Over the years, these wicket-keepers have done well, but they were not retained by their respective franchises
In less than 10 days, the world will witness one of the biggest sports-related auctions in the world. The mega auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to go under the hammer on November 23, with teams ready to splash hefty moolah on both Indian and foreign players. As the anticipation builds up, we take a look at five brilliant wicket-keepers who could sell for big bucks at the upcoming auction.
Rishabh Pant has been part of the Delhi Capitals since 2016, but for the 2025 season, he was not retained. One of the present stars of Indian cricket, he has 95 dismissals in the IPL, which is the fourth-highest in the tourney. Not to forget, as a wicket-keeper batsman, he is the third-highest run-scorer in the tournament, with 3,086 in 101 matches.
Why are people crying 🤣🤣🤣
— Riseup Pant (@riseup_pant17) May 14, 2024
Did we choose the WC team ?
He's the better keeper batter than all 5-6 people who were in contention.
Matches:- 13
Runs :- 437
Average:- 43.7
Strike Rate:- 156.07
If you are crying after these numbers too that shows the expectations and level of… pic.twitter.com/Wgo3WcoCPR
Given how he was treated by one of the Lucknow Super Giants management members last season on the field in front of millions, it was not a surprise that Lucknow did not retain KL Rahul, but he happily jumped back into the auction pool. When it comes to dismissals, he has 63 of those in the IPL, whereas with the willow, he has scored 3,010 runs in 74 matches so far. In 2022, Lucknow had purchased him for INR 17 crore.
Ishan Kishan has been with the Mumbai Indians since 2018, and in the previous auction, he was even brought back to Mumbai for a whopping INR 15 crore. However, he has not been retained for the upcoming auction. In terms of dismissals, he has 49 dismissals in 105 IPL matches. With the bat, he has scored 2,644 runs with a highest score of 99 in the tourney. Not to mention, he has 16 half-centuries in IPL.
Ishan Kishan becomes the 2nd Indian wicket-keeper after Dhoni to score 4 consecutive fifties in ODIs.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) September 2, 2023
- Two boys from Jharkhand....!!!! pic.twitter.com/yq3eCykvta
Things have turned pretty bleak for Shreyas Iyer, who, despite leading the Kolkata Knight Riders to the IPL 2024, was released by the management. One would be surprised to learn that Shreyas Iyer, as per ESPNCricinfo, has not made a single dismissal. However, given he is a wicketkeeper batsman who is decent at batting, he is likely to go big during the auction, especially given he is an IPL-winning captain. With the bat, Iyer has scored 3,127 runs in 115 matches with a highest score of 96 and an average of 32.24.
After seven seasons, Rajasthan Royals has parted ways with their explosive batsman Jos Buttler. In 107 games, he has made 21 dismissals, but his efforts with the bat are much more impressive. With the willow, he has scored 3,582 runs, including a highest score of 124. He also has an average of 38.11 and a strike rate of 147. Not to forget, he scored seven centuries in the tourney and 19 50s.
In our opinion, Rishabh Pant will be the most expensive wicket-keeper of this lot, given the balance between his wicket-keeping and batting abilities. On the other hand, we believe KL Rahul won’t fetch tons of moolah because of his recent slump in form.
