Smart Auctions, Shrewd Choices: IPL 2025’s Winning Formula

Cricket in India is more than mere sport. It commands an industry of entertainment and mass culture, fanatic following and feverish fandom. It’s no different for us here at Edict Sports: united behind the Men and Women in Blue for nine months in the year, we secede and revert to our beloved franchises for the three months of the Indian Premier League. As beautiful as 5-day and 50-over cricket is, the rapid adrenaline rush of T20 cricket remains undeniable.

Both writers agree though: this was a season largely won and lost at the auction table (do check out the Edict’s analysis of the Mega Auction by fellow writers Zohran and Paddy here). Look no further than the two finalists, Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

For PBKS, a franchise long defined by inconsistency and underachievement, this season was a revelation. The “fearsome foursome” of uncapped Indian batters: Prabhsimran, Priyansh Arya, Nehal Wadhera, and Shashank, drove Punjab to touching distance of the trophy, but their combined inexperience proved to be a bridge that proved too far to cross.  It was slow heartbreak in the final for Sarthak, but still, Punjab may have handed the IPL the next big new template for entertainment, appeal, and (dare-we-suggest?) elusive success.

Shreyas Iyer led from the front, but Punjab Kings fell at the final frontier. (Photo: IPL)

The purchase of Shreyas Iyer as captain (and at high cost) proved inspired. Iyer ended the campaign as Punjab’s highest scorer, with 603 runs in 17 innings at a strike rate of 175, proving exceptional value for the record 26.75 crore rupees they spent on him. Iyer knows a thing or two about ending a trophy drought, having captained KKR to their first title in a decade in the 2024 IPL. While he couldn’t repeat the trick this time, he leaves this IPL with his reputation enhanced. At 30, Iyer is no longer a left-field maverick selection, but a markedly mature maestro whose performances have seen him rise to 8th in the ICC ODI batting rankings. His batting consistency, with a rooted emphasis on technique and timing over bottom-hand hard-hitting, dovetails well with his leadership style, an exotic cocktail of aggressive competitiveness and calm, methodical game management. Squint at the choice of facial hair, and you have a case for Iyer to succeed 36-year-old Virat Kohli at the international level. The comparisons have never been more apt, nor better deserved.

As for Kohli himself, at the eighteenth time of asking, the King finally has his crown.

For eighteen years, RCB have always been a gifted and talented side, exciting and entertaining for fans and neutrals alike. For eighteen years, though, the championship remained a distant dream, lost somewhere between the poor auction strategies and the potholed Bellandur traffic. A whole generation of Bengaluru fans has grown up dreaming of the day their local franchise would finally seal the deal. Their failures have felt preternatural, a divine jinx, their defiant chant of Ee Sala Cup Namde (“This year, the cup will be ours”) becoming more ironic by the year. For Kohli — the Delhiite who was adopted by Bengaluru as their prodigal son and crowned their King, who has worn the number 18 for club and country for years, who carried his team to the 2016 final before they faltered, who has remained the face and star performer of an all-too-often imbalanced and under-performing franchise — the failures have felt all too personal. 

King Kohli finally has his crown. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Ee Sala Cup Namdu. “This year, the cup is ours.” It took great introspection and course-correction for RCB, and a departure from their usual imbalanced auction planning tendencies, to pave the way for their long-awaited “Lucky 18”. 

Kohli, as has become typical, led from the front and scored the most runs, but this time, his team did not let him down. The well-rounded squad, with their traditionally batting-heavy line-ups, finally found the bowling depth that they had been missing. Veteran Bhuveneshwar Kumar, plucked from Sunrisers Hyderabad, took 17 scalps and became the highest wicket-taking pacer and second among all bowlers in IPL history. Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma, lesser-heralded spinners, won the final for them. Josh Hazlewood, acquired for Rs 12.5 crore, justified every rupee, taking 22 wickets at an economy of 8.77. The RCB players carried Kohli on their shoulders after the final against PBKS; it wasn’t a token gesture.

If it was the 18th time lucky for RCB, it was a miserable continuation of Lucknow Super Giants’ “7th Heaven”. The relatively new brainchild of the Goenka group decided to let go of its former skipper KL Rahul post a rather underwhelming 2024 season, finishing 7th on the points table. Looking for a new skipper and perhaps new fortune, the management decided to replace their capped Indian wicket-keeper batsman captain with… another capped Indian wicket-keeper batsman captain, Rishabh Pant. For 27 crores. The outcome? Well… 7th yet again (Thala for a reason).

Pant failed to star with the bat and had a rather underwhelming couple of months as the leader of the pack. While Pant’s form dipped, the trio of Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, and Mitchell Marsh carried the bulk of the batting load, delivering several match-defining knocks. However, the team’s lower middle order faltered repeatedly, exposing a lack of reliable finishers in crunch situations. This imbalance cost them dearly in tight chases and high-pressure matches. Amidst the inconsistencies, Digvesh Rathi emerged as the surprise package, with some fantastic spells coupled with a bit of fire and drama on the pitch. Although his run was marked with disciplinary whispers, he “signed off” the season with his reputation bolstered and his name buzzing across cricketing circles.

On the other end of the auction strategy spectrum, look no further than Kolkata homeboy Aneek’s KKR for a lovely summation of what not to do at an auction. A disastrous title defence for the Purple and Gold Brigade saw them notch just five wins in 14 matches. The loss of coach Gautam Gambhir was always going to leave a void, but their squad-building proved to be the height of stupidity (insert Gavaskar “stupid, stupid, stupid”). KKR released their title-winning captain Shreyas Iyer, replaced overseas stars Phil Salt and Mitchell Starc with the underperforming Quinton de Kock and Spencer Johnson, and retained ageing Caribbean stalwarts Sunil Narine and Andre Russell. None provided value for money, not least Venkatesh Iyer, who was arguably the flop of the tournament, scoring a measly 142 runs in 11 games for his staggering ₹23.75 crore price tag.

Surprisingly, the team that gave KKR competition for the worst auction strategy were Chennai Super Kings, who finished bottom of the table for the first time in their history. Scoring the fewest runs and conceding the second-most was a far fall from grace for the five-time champions, whose ageing lineup never inspired confidence among even the most ardent of fans. CSK’s retainment roster and sizeable auction kitty of ₹55 crore were wasted on washed experience: Deepak Hooda, Vijay Shankar and Rahul Tripathi were forgettable, while Maheesha Pathirana, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin were abysmal. As for MS Dhoni – Thala, Legend, GOAT – it’s time to let go. To paraphrase, “Leave the cricket before the cricket leaves you.”

Elsewhere, beaten Qualifier 1 side Gujarat Titans continued their march of “quiet excellence”. In their short history, the Titans have quickly built a reputation as one of the most consistent sides in the IPL, yet they remain curiously under the radar. Overshadowed by the fanfare around RCB, MI, and CSK, this squad has let their cricket do the talking, qualifying for the playoffs in three of their four seasons, including a title win in their very first outing. After winning their maiden title in their debut as a unit in 2022, the Titans came within a whisker of defending their crown in 2023, and in 2025, they topped the table for much of the group stage before two untimely losses saw them drop to 4th on the points table, eventually bowing out in the first eliminator against Mumbai Indians.

B. Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill excelled for Gujarat Titans. (Photo: IPL)

Shubman Gill’s captaincy arc has been a topic of debate— especially after a disappointing 8th-place finish in 2024— but his leadership in 2025 showed a bit more maturity and promise, which bodes well given his recent appointment as India’s red-ball captain. Right at the top of this deadly squad was B. Sai Sudharsan, whose elegant, Sangakkara-esque style earned him the Orange Cap with a staggering 759 runs in 15 innings and, fittingly, a maiden Test call-up. On the bowling front, Prasidh Krishna emerged as an unsung hero. Surrounded by heavyweights like Rabada, Siraj, Rashid, Coetzee, and Ishant Sharma, he quietly rose to the top of the wicket charts, finishing the season with 25 wickets and clinching the Purple Cap. In every sense, Gujarat Titans continue to embody quiet excellence.

As for well-publicised excellence, Mumbai Indians have long been the blueprint for consistency in the IPL: Gujarat Titans before Gujarat Titans, if you will. Their knack for making playoffs feel like annual appointments and turning pressure into performance has made them the league's gold standard. This season was no different. They may have started poorly, with four losses in their first five matches, but the playoff veterans stitched together yet another solid campaign, finishing third on the points table before falling short against a spirited PBKS side in Qualifier 2.

Over the years, MI’s strategy hasn’t been about flashy overhauls but sticking to a tried-and-tested core, with Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, and Hardik Pandya (before and after his stint at Gujarat) forming the engine room. Even Trent Boult, who has been treated like a revolving door by the franchise, found his way back post-auction. Once a Mumbai player, always a Mumbai player… at least every alternate season. Ace auctions and seasons as consistently as MI’s think tank does, and the team remains in the playoff zone, year after year.

Where MI languished at the bottom of the table before finding their stride, Delhi Capitals stood clear at the top before imploding with a whimper. DC had a rollercoaster of a season: not the kind that leaves you exhilarated and raring for a second ride, but one that has you sick and queasy and praying for the end—one that could not come quickly enough.

Brilliant at times, bewildering at others, DC provided the anatomy of inconsistency. A new opening pair every other match was emblematic of a team in hot water. Faf du Plessis and Jake Fraser-McGurk’s only consistency came in letting down KL Rahul, their leading run-scorer. The bowling was just as patchy: Kuldeep Yadav and Mitchell Starc were standouts, but when Starc left, Kuldeep was left isolated as the rest struggled. Vipraj Nigam was a diamond find, but Mukesh Kumar leaked runs, Mohit Sharma had little impact, and Axar Patel was ineffective as either a spinner or captain. The batting was chaotic, and the fielding shambolic: dropped catches, overthrows, and no-balls at the worst moments. DC finished 5th, mid-table, after a distinctly immemorable and ‘mid’ season.

The biggest disappointment of the season, though, were Sunrisers Hyderabad. With their brilliant batting attack and high-scoring runfests, SRH were the talk of the town last season. When they scored 286 in their very first game of 2025, and skipper Pat Cummins cheekily declared that the team would “go for 300” this time around, the sentiment seemed clear: “new season, same chaos.”

Instead, their season derailed like a badly edited blooper reel. The much-feared “slog and hog” duo of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma fizzled out after explosive starts. Head, in particular, regressed shockingly. Ishan Kishan, freshly brought into the unit to add middle-order flair, looked more out of rhythm than in it. Heinrich Klaasen, the backbone of the SRH middle order, seemed to be the only partially consistent batsman. Mohammed Shami’s comeback was particularly underwhelming, with several high-economy wicketless outings.

SRH certainly had their moments. Sharma, Kishan and Klassen smashed a century each, their innings nothing short of blockbuster cinema. A flurry of 3 consecutive 200+ scores (and wins) by the squad towards the end of the group stage was reminiscent of their 2024 form. An 18-over 245-run chase against Punjab gave their fans a run for their money (one of the authors of this article was quite miserable). However, it proved too little too late. SRH finished 6th and failed to qualify for the playoffs, a team of moments and memories showing up with cannons but firing empty shells.

Rajasthan Royals continued in the vein of SRH’s underperformance, dropping from 3rd last year to 9th in 2025. However, unlike Hyderabad, whose season will be remembered for their inconsistency, Rajasthan’s newest batting talent (no, not Yashasvi Jaiswal) has changed the narrative significantly. Runs and wickets are records that are broken every other year, but Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is a talent the likes of whom is unlikely to be unearthed anytime soon. Nor is the name unlikely to be overshadowed for a long, long time.

Rajasthan Royals’ newest diamond: 14-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. (Photo: BCCI)

You’d expect a 13-year-old to be mimicking cricketers on TV, not dominating professionals on the field. At that age, most kids are still figuring out how to spell “velocity,” let alone understand it. To an average teen, speed is understood in terms of a roller coaster ride, not a 145 kmph Mitchell Starc bouncer whizzing past their ears. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is no average teen. Scoring the fastest-ever IPL hundred, as the youngest-ever IPL player, was the highlight of an exciting and immediately memorable debut season for the young batsman. On the day he scored that century, you’d be forgiven for thinking you were watching a sequel to Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii. In fact, Sooryavanshi didn’t just match Karan’s heroics from the film; he outpaced them. But there was nothing childlike about the way he batted. With raw power, flair, and confidence that resembled an Instagram highlight reel, Vaibhav’s century felt like a generational moment. 

Sooryavanshi’s feat isn’t just a statistical anomaly but a statement, defying expectations and redefining potential through performance. And while it’s tempting to joke that Rahul Dravid must’ve lost his marbles with a Gen-Z T20 “slogger” in the dressing room, the truth is that this kid is crafting a style entirely his own. If this is just the beginning, it’s hard not to wonder: what does the future have in store for us, when the present already looks this bright?

As yet another three-month-long adventure filled with hope, heartbreak, celebration, and second-hand stress came to an end, we, the authors, arrived at the conclusion that supporting a team in the IPL is like falling for a campus crush—irrational, emotional and dramatic, yet somehow, we never learn. At least, in the case of this festival of cricket, if nothing else, we’re rewarded with nostalgia, unforgettable moments, and some solid meme material to last the year. The IPL is unpredictable, sometimes frustrating, often exhilarating, but always unforgettable. And just like every year, fans will say goodbye with one eye already on the upcoming season. The strategy meetings will begin, auction plans will be drawn, and every franchise will once again dream of lifting that trophy. As we look ahead to 2026, one thing is certain: new names will shine, new rivalries will be born (and new blunders will be made), but the cycle of thrill, drama, and pure cricketing madness will remain. Because in the IPL, anything can happen—and more often than not, it does.

Sarthak and Aneek are 21- and 20-year-old athletes and sports writers; Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has given both their parents fresh ammunition for generational disappointment. “At the age of 13, Vaibhav was in the IPL: meanwhile, look at you…”