IPL Auction 2025: GT, SRH suffer as Mallika Sagar makes shocking blunders

Auctioneer Mallika Sagar didn't have a very good day at the job on Sunday, November 24, as she made quite a few blunders at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction.

A couple of blunders made by Mallika Sagar led to the Gujarat Titans (GT) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) suffering losses at the auction.

Also Read: IPL Auction 2025: Sanjiv Goenka admits overpaying 'team man' Rishabh Pant, takes indirect dig at KL Rahul

IPL Auction 2025: Mallika Sagar's huge blunders revealed

Mallika Sagar became the first female auctioneer in the history of the Indian Premier League in the 2024 edition of the event, and she was further chosen to do the job in the IPL Auction 2025.

She has made some huge errors at the ongoing auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and the fans have expressed frustration over the same via social media channels.

One of the biggest blunders that Mallika Sagar made was when Jos Buttler was being sold. The star England wicketkeeper-batsman was signed by Gujarat Titans for Rs 15.75 crore after a bidding war between Rajasthan Royals, Gujarat Titans, and Lucknow Super Giants.

However, Gujarat Titans could have paid INR 25 lakh less for Buttler, if Mallika Sagar hadn't made a blunder. Notably, she had a lapse in concentration as the Titans were at INR 15.50 crore when she asked LSG whether they were interested in increasing the amount to 15.75. The Super Giants dropped out of the race, but she mistakenly said INR 15.75 crore instead of INR 15.50 crore, and Buttler was sold for INR 15.75 crore.

The auctioneer had a lapse in concentration during Jos Buttler's bidding. GT were at 15.50 when auctioneer asked LSG whether they are interested going up to 15.75. LSG backed out. But, the auctioneer mispronouned 15.75 instead of 15.50. Thus, selling Jos Buttler at an extra 25…

— Cricket.com (@weRcricket) November 24, 2024

Another major blunder made by Mallika Sagar was during the bidding process of Abhinav Manohar. The explosive batter entered the mega auction with a base price of INR 30 lakh.

RCB started the bid for him and CSK jumped right in. The two franchises were engaged in an intense bidding war and after RCB backed out, Gujarat Titans came in.

Later, Sunrisers Hyderabad joined the bidding war at INR 2.40 crore and as the bidding reached INR 2.80 crore, CSK dropped out. Abhinav Manohar was declared sold to SRH for INR 2.80 crore and the hammer went down.

However, the bid was open again at INR 3 crore as Mallika Sagar said that the Kolkata Knight Riders had put their paddle up and she wasn't able to see it. SRH then bid INR 20 lakh more and finally acquired Manohar for INR 3.20 crore.

pic.twitter.com/jZhaPazCM5

— Drizzyat12Kennyat8 (@45kennyat7PM) November 24, 2024

Very happy to have Jos Buttler in our side - Parthiv Patel

The newly-appointed batting and assistant coach, Parthiv Patel, was delighted to have Jos Buttler in the squad. He said:

“Very happy to have Jos Buttler in our side. He can bat anywhere, he can keep as well, he can help Shubman (Gill) also. We wanted to buy our no. 1 bowler and no. 1 batter from the marquee set and we have both.”

Also, GT's director of cricket Vikram Solanki expressed his satisfaction over the way they were building the squad at the auction.

"We've very happy with the team we've got. There's a small number of players in these first two sets and we played our part, according to our plan. The team is starting to take shape but we still need to fill slots and be smart. Actually, a number of very good players come tomorrow as well," Solanki said.

What? RCB let go off Abhinav Manohar at 3.2 cr - Dodda Ganesh

The former India National Cricket Team player Dodda Ganesh was left furious with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru for not going all out to acquire the services of the explosive batsman Abhinav Manohar. He took to his official X handle to write:

"What? RCB let go off Abhinav Manohar at 3.2 cr They were happy to bid for Venky Iyer till 23 crs.

"Don’t tell me Iyer is an all-rounder. He’s just bowled in 9 inns of the 50 IPL matchs he has played. Has only 3 wkts and conceded close to 11 rpo. RCB #IPLAuction2025."

What? RCB let go off Abhinav Manohar at 3.2 cr 🤷‍♂️ They were happy to bid for Venky Iyer till 23 crs 😭

Don’t tell me Iyer is an all-rounder. He’s just bowled in 9 inns of the 50 IPL matchs he has played. Has only 3 wkts and conceded close to 11 rpo.

RCB 🫡 #IPLAuction2025

— Dodda Ganesh | ದೊಡ್ಡ ಗಣೇಶ್ (@doddaganesha) November 24, 2024