New Delhi: As the current edition of the Indian Premier League heads toward its business end, it’s a good time to reflect on the league stage that has served up a range of stories—some of roaring redemptions, some damp squibs, and some in-betweens.
IPL 2025 saw the redemption of two India internationals who have been out of reckoning for the national T20 setup for quite some time and were let go by the teams they captained the previous season— K.L. Rahul and Shreyas Iyer.
While both their performances have been impressive, Iyer has had a greater impact on his team Punjab Kings who have been able to make it to the playoffs for the first time in 11 years.
While these two have received accolades for their performances, some other stars have been noted for under-performing their potential. Take for example, the ‘expensive’ Rishabh Pant or the ‘one-match-wonder’ Ishan Kishan or Rajasthan Royals’ bet Dhruv Jurel.
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The Rahul-Iyer redemption arcs
After leading the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to their second IPL title last year, it was a shocker when Iyer was among the list of players not retained for this season. The Punjab Kings bought him for a whopping Rs 26.75 crore, making him the second most expensive player in IPL history.
In the 12 matches, he has piled up over 400 runs, including four brisk half-centuries, with a top score of 97 against the Gujarat Titans. But it’s not only the runs that he has contributed with, His leadership has been instrumental in ending Punjab Kings’ 11-year wait for a Playoff berth.
Meanwhile, Rahul’s performance in IPL 2025 after a difficult run with the Lucknow SuperGiants the last year feels personal to all his fans.
His stint with the LSG was marred by injury setbacks, inconsistent form, and growing criticism over his strike rate. Many wondered if his best days were behind him. In the middle of all these, a clip of LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka lashing out at him at the ground following the team’s consecutive losses was all over social media, fueling chatter and theories of all kinds.
Rahul, as expected, was not in the LSG’s list of retained players.
He went into the mega auction and was bought by the Delhi Capitals for Rs 14 crore, the amount was lower than what he earned (Rs 17 crore) at the LSG.
In the ongoing season, he answered every doubt—not with words, but with the bat.
Even though Delhi Capitals couldn’t qualify for the playoffs, Rahul’s performance has been appreciated by fans and critics alike. In a match Sunday against the Gujarat Titans, he scored an unbeaten century off just 60 balls with a strike rate of 172.30.
Overall, he scored 493 runs in 12 matches at a strike rate of 148.04, his best since the 2018 edition, where he peaked to 158.41 in 14 matches.
Reportedly, following his IPL exploits, the Board of Control for Cricket in India is set to consider him for the Bangladesh T20Is.
Among other notable performers are Gujarat Titans batter Sai Sudarshan, who currently holds the orange cap. Sudarshan became the fastest Indian to reach 1,000 IPL runs (25 innings) during the 2024 campaign. Given his rising stock and improving performance, the GT retained him ahead of the 2025 season.
The bet has paid off, and how.
His performance graph has consistently been upward since his debut 2022 season, but Sudarshan’s most high-impactful performance has come in this edition. The Tamil Nadu batter smashed 617 runs in 12 matches with an impressive average of 56.09 and a strike rate of 157. This includes one century and five half-centuries.
Massive money, minimum returns
When the Lucknow SuperGiants spent Rs 27 crore on Rishabh Pant, they weren’t looking just for a keeper-batter— they were betting on a leader, a match-winner, a game-changer. But, what they got, many argue, was a season-long liability.
Pant, who became the most expensive IPL buy ever, trudged through the season with just 135 runs in 12 games. He crossed the 25-run mark only once with a 63 against CSK at a strike rate below 130. His painful 18-run innings off 17 balls on a batting-friendly Dharamsala pitch during a crucial chase against Punjab Kings made him a meme material.
But Pant wasn’t the only costly misfire.
Over at the Kolkata Knight Riders, they retained vice captain Venkatesh Iyer for a hefty Rs 23.75 crore, following his 370-run haul in the previous season. But, he mostly took the passenger seat, scoring just 142 runs in 11 matches, averaging 20.29.
Save a solitary half-century, he has struggled to anchor or give impetus to the KKR batting.
Rajasthan Royals, too, made a bold gamble when they decided to retain Dhruv Jurel for Rs 14 crore and let go of the English white-ball great Jos Buttler. What would have influenced the RR’s decision also was the fact that Buttler was struggling for form and consistency around the time of auction.
On paper, Jurel’s IPL numbers are just fine: 249 runs in 12 matches, with an average of 39.67, and strike rate of 150.63. But scratch the surface and it does not look fine. Most of his runs came in inconsequential scenarios, with zero impact in high-stakes situations.
Meanwhile, Buttler is thriving at the Gujarat Titans after being bought for Rs 15.75 crore. He has played some blistering knocks. His total stands at 500 runs in 12 matches at a strike rate of 163.93.
And then there is another high-ticket flop, Ishan Kishan. The SRH shelled out Rs 11.40 crore for him and the century against Rajasthan Royals at the beginning of the campaign looked like money well spent. But, it was just an initial flash in the pan.
In the 11 matches that followed, Kishan added a mere 196 runs.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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