Chennai Super Kings enjoyed a successful Day 1 of the IPL mega auction 2025 with quality signings in Jeddah on Sunday. CSK made the headlines for signing their former player and home favourite Ravichandran Ashwin for Rs 9.75 crore, who is set to return to Chennai after a long gap of 9 years.
The five-time champions also spent big to sign the young Afghanistani cricketer Noor Ahmad for a whopping price of Rs 10 crore. As expected, Rutuaj Gaikwad-led signed back their former stars Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway.
Chennai also managed to sign Khaleel Ahmed and Rahul Tripathi to further strengthen their squad for the 2025 edition. The left-arm fast bowler Khaleel cost only 4.80 crore which is considered a steal buy after the player's impressive 2024 season for Delhi Capitals.
Meanwhile, Chennai Super Kings also showed a strong interest in signing back uncapped batter Sameer Rizvi but were beaten by Delhi Capitals. CSK entered the auction with a decent amount of Rs 55 crore in their purse and needed to fill 20 slots in a two-day event.
"It's a bit of a homecoming for Ashwin, but he's a world-class bowler," CSK head coach Stephen Fleming said. "It's not so much the price - you look at how someone fits in, and there's an emotional attachment for Ashwin with Chennai, so it's a nice fit. He has still got a very good skillset; his numbers are fantastic. He's obviously towards the latter part of his career, but the experience he brings, he's handy with the bat, and we think we can use him in a number of ways."
List of players CSK signed in IPL mega auction 2025
| Sr no | Player | Base price | Winning bid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Devon Conway | 2 crore | 6.25 crore |
| 2 | Rahul Tripathi | 75 lakh | 3.49 crore |
| 3 | Rahin Ravindra | 1.5 crore | 4 crore (RTM) |
| 4 | Ravichandran Ashwin | 2 crore | 9.75 crore |
| 5 | Khaleel Ahmed | 2 crore | 4.80 crore |
| 6 | Noor Ahmad | 2 crore | 10 crore |
| 7 | Vijay Shankar | 30 lakh | 1.2 crore |
