Surprising names that went unsold in IPL 2025 Mega Auction

6 Big Players That Unsold in IPL 2025 Auction

In the recent 2025 IPL Auction, several big players went unsold. No IPL team showed interest in buying them due to concerns over age, current form, and budget constraints. In their prime, they were legends of the game.

David Warner

There are seldom any batting records in the IPL in which David Warner does not feature. So when the Australian opening batter was one of the unsold players in the IPL 2025 auction many fans and experts were left surprised. Warner ranks fourth on the list for most runs scored in the IPL with 6,565 runs. The opening batter has the most runs among overseas players.

Warner being unsold comes as a bigger surprise because of his playing style. Warner with a strike rate of almost 140 has the best scoring rate among players with more than 5,200 runs. His scoring rate would have made him a great player to have in your team as the opening batter. As a skipper, Warner won the IPL title with the Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016.

However, Warner’s last season with Delhi Capitals ended on a really poor note. In eight matches the left-handed batter scored only 168 runs at a strike rate of 134 with only one half-century. The previous season in 2023, Warner scored 516 runs at a strike rate of 131. The dwindling strike rate in the last few seasons resulted in him being one of the unsold players in the IPL 2025 auction.

Shardul Thakur

Shardul Thakur is one of the rare Indian bowlers who can bat lower down the order. However, due to the introduction of the impact player rule his importance in IPL teams has decreased. In the last two seasons with the impact player rule, Thakur only played 20 matches. In the two seasons before the impact player rule, Thakur played 30 matches. Even some of the best all-rounders could not fetch a lot of money because of the impact player rule.

The 33-year-old has taken 94 wickets in 95 matches and scored more than 300 runs at a strike rate of almost 140. He is one of the unsold players in the IPL 2025 auction. The right-arm bowling all-rounder is one of the popular players among the fans of the Indian cricket team. He has won multiple high-stake matches against England and Australia thanks to his all-round abilities in the longest format.

However, Thakur would be on everyone’s priority list if a bowler is injured in their side. Thakur might be used as a net bowler if he is unable to find a place in any of the teams.

Prithvi Shaw

Prithvi Shaw’s downfall from being one of the best young talents to being one of the unsold players in the IPL 2025 auction was highly unpredictable. The right-handed batter’s teammates from the Under-19 World Cup including Shubman Gill and Arshdeep Singh on the other hand fetched a lot of money. Gill was retained for ₹16.50 crores while Arshdeep was sold for ₹18 crores in the auction to PBKS becoming one of the most expensive players in the IPL history.

Shaw in 79 matches scored 1,892 runs at a strike rate of 147.46. He is one of the most aggressive Indian opening batters who can take a toll on the bowlers during the powerplay. Nevertheless, the last few years have been unkind to him, to say the least. The 25-year-old last lost his place in the national team having played his last match in July 2021. A few months before the mega auction, Shaw lost his place in Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy side stating fitness issues.

In November 2024, Greg Chappell wrote a letter to the Under-19 winning skipper. The former Australian captain in his letter suggested Shaw go on a “journey of self-reflection”. The right-handed opening batter even decreased his base price from ₹2 crores to ₹75 lakhs but still could not receive a bid from the 10 teams.

Jonny Bairstow

David Warner and Jonny Bairstow formed one of the best opening partnerships in the history of the IPL. The overseas duo shared five 100-run opening partnerships for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Interestingly, Bairstow along with Warner was one of the unsold players in the IPL 2025 auction. Like Shaw, Bairstow too has had a tough couple of months.

The English wicketkeeper batter has played 50 matches in the IPL and scored 1,589 runs. He has a strike rate of 144.45 and is one of the most successful opening batters in the league. However, with the increase in the number of overseas wicketkeeper batters including Phillip Salt, Jos Buttler, and Heinrich Klaasen, Bairstow’s stocks have taken a hit.

In spite of scoring a century in the highest run chase in the history of T20 cricket, Bairstow could not find a bid at the base price of ₹2 crores. Bairstow last played a match for the England cricket team in June 2024 and is yet to get a place back in the side in all three formats.

Mayank Agarwal

Mayank Agarwal like Shaw is also one of the hard-hitting opening batters. However, unlike Shaw, Agarwal is in his 30s and a comeback into the marquee league looks unlikely. The 33-year-old came into the auction with a base price of ₹1 crore. However, with a plethora of options among opening batters, Agarwal could not find a single bid.

The right-handed batter was part of Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2024 where he played only four matches. He could only yield 64 runs at a poor strike rate of 112. His last three seasons in the IPL have resulted in only 530 runs at a strike rate of 124. The poor batting performances in the last three years have resulted in him being one of the unsold players in the IPL 2025 auction.

Kane Williamson

Kane Williamson is the finest batter among the unsold players in the IPL 2025 auction. The Kiwi top-order batter has played 79 matches in the IPL scoring 2,128 runs at a strike-rate of 125.6. The modern game with the addition of the impact player rule renders Williamson useless because of his strike rate.

Even though Williamson’s consistency and average of 35.46 are matched by very few players, there are still players who could play a more impactful knock resulting in a win. Williamson was a part of the Gujarat Titans in 2023 and 2024, however, constant injuries meant that the former New Zealand captain played only two matches for the 2022 IPL champions.