This year’s IPL mega auction brought back the Right-to-Match (RTM) option, but with an exciting twist. The franchise with the highest bid was allowed to name a new price if an RTM was used against them, creating fascinating scenarios throughout the event.
The first dramatic use of RTM came when Arshdeep Singh, India’s rising T20I pacer, was up for grabs. Held in Jeddah, the bidding started fiercely, with CSK, DC, GT, RCB, RR, and SRH crossing the ₹10 crore mark. SRH emerged as the top bidder at ₹15.75 crore, but as expected, PBKS exercised their RTM. SRH countered with a new offer of ₹18 crore, only for Punjab to match it and reclaim their star bowler.
On the other hand, the RTM option added unexpected drama to Rishabh Pant’s bidding war. Predicted to be a hot favourite, Pant justified the hype by becoming the auction’s most expensive player at ₹27 crore. LSG seemed set to secure him at ₹20.75 crore, but DC surprised everyone by invoking their RTM. Refusing to back down, LSG’s Sanjiv Goenka stunned the room by raising the bid to ₹27 crore, sealing Pant’s place in Lucknow with an emphatic finish.
There were other interesting RTM plays too. GT attempted to bring back Afghanistan’s Noor Ahmad for ₹5 crore, but CSK countered with ₹10 crore to secure him. Meanwhile, PBKS tried to retain Jitesh Sharma with ₹7 crore, but RCB priced them out by going up to ₹11 crore. Similarly, DC lost J&K pacer Rasikh Dar to RCB after a massive ₹6 crore bid. Towards the end, MI’s owners went all in to reclaim Naman Dhir, matching RR’s ₹5.25 crore bid despite tense back-and-forth bidding.
The revised RTM rule injected new challenges into the already complex auction dynamics, making it one of the most unpredictable editions yet. Successful RTMs included:
- Arshdeep Singh (PBKS): ₹18 crore
- Jake Fraser-McGurk (DC): ₹9 crore
- Naman Dhir (MI): ₹5.25 crore
- Rachin Ravindra (CSK): ₹4 crore
The IPL auctions never fail to deliver drama, but this year’s edition raised the stakes with high-pressure bidding wars and unexpected twists that left fans and franchises on the edge of their seats.