IPL 2025 shake-up: Players set to play for a new franchise after years with former team

The conclusion of IPL 2024 brought about an overhaul in multiple franchises in the IPL. With franchises leaving core players, from skippers to loyalists of many years. When the changes cemented with franchises making swaps of these players in the IPL 2025 mega auction, it almost seems like the league has entered a new era. IPL 2025 would feature plenty of scenes that would not seem familiar to the fans. Not seeing Mohammed Siraj in red, Jos Buttler without his pink pride, and the spot behind stumps devoid of Ishan Kishan clad in blue when Mumbai Indians field could prove to be a hard pill to swallow for the audience. How the transition fares for the players is a tale waiting to unfold when IPL 2025 hits the action.

Players leaving behind their teams of many years to pick new threads in IPL 2025

Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders didn't retain their title-winning captain, Shreyas Iyer. Rishabh Pant, whose appointment as the full-time captain of Delhi Capitals had initially pushed Iyer to KKR, also found himself in the auction pool for IPL 2025. Mohammed Siraj, after grinding his way into the core of RCB, didn't find a spot in the retentions for the upcoming season. When the IPL 2025 mega auction arrived, Bengaluru didn’t entertain the option of raising the paddle for the ace seamer. A conclusion of all the shocking scenes from the mega auction is the sight of these players donning new threads this season.

Mohammed Siraj

Partnerships of nearly a decade are coming to an end in IPL 2025. And yet, one could easily rate Siraj's departure from RCB as the most hard-hitting transition this season. The ace seamer debuted in IPL 2017 with Sunrisers Hyderabad before joining Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2018. Siraj didn't look back after that, expensive spells, breakthrough wickets, match-winning performances, he and RCB saw it all together.

With his credentials in the red threads of IPL, Siraj carved his way into the Indian team, where he gradually became an all-format prospect. Through multiple transitions in the team over the seasons, Siraj, along with Virat Kohli, became the focal point of RCB’s core. In his IPL tenure with RCB, Siraj scalped 40 wickets in 45 matches from 2018 to 2024. In the mega auction, Siraj went to Gujarat Titans for 12.25 crores. Before launching his maiden IPL season with the IPL 2022 winners, the seamer reflected on leaving RCB and the emotions attached to the team.

“To be honest, Virat Kohli has a huge hand in my career. He has backed me in my bad times—2018 and 2019—he supported me, he even retained me, and after that, my performance and graph went up. He has been very supportive. It has been very emotional for me to leave RCB. Let's see what happens when I come against RCB. The match is on April 2,” Siraj said.

Jos Buttler

Jos Buttler started his IPL journey with Mumbai Indians. However, he truly captured the stage during his time with Rajasthan Royals. The English batter played seven seasons for Rajasthan Royals from 2018 to 2024 and emerged as their highest run-scorer ever. The former England captain delivered an exceptionally majestic performance in IPL 2022, smashing records to become the second-highest run-getter in a single season after Virat Kohli. With four centuries to his name, Buttler claimed the Orange Cap in the season where Rajasthan reached the IPL final for the first time since their title-winning campaign in the inaugural season of 2008. However, with a meek show in 2023 and 2024, Buttler didn’t fit into RR’s retention plans for IPL 2025. As he entered the IPL 2025 mega auction, Gujarat Titans grabbed the player for 15.75 crores.

Ishan Kishan

The wicketkeeper-batter debuted in IPL 2016 with the now-defunct Gujarat Lions. After two seasons with the team, Kishan joined Mumbai Indians in 2018. The batter swiftly became a crucial prospect for the team, which went on to win consecutive IPL titles in 2019 and 2020. In the IPL 2022 mega auction, the Indian batter became the costliest player, as Mumbai splurged over 15 crores to reclaim him in the squad. However, history did not repeat itself after MI released him ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. While Mumbai did try to bring him back, they had to step away when Sunrisers Hyderabad put 11.25 crores on the table. Opting against using the right-to-match card, MI ultimately ended their seven-season association with Kishan.

Apart from the above-mentioned picks, the likes of Rishabh Pant and Bhuvneshwar Kumar faced a similar fate. Bhuvneshwar Kumar joined RCB for a hefty sum, concluding his 11-year-long stint with Sunrisers Hyderabad. Rishabh Pant also brought an end to his nine-year stay with Delhi Capitals, as he became the highest-paid player in IPL history at the 2025 mega auction, going to Lucknow Super Giants for 27 crores.