The IPL 2025 mega auction on November 24 was marred by a few blunders made by auctioneer Mallika Sagar. These errors led to financial losses for both Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad. Mallika Sagar, the first female auctioneer in IPL history, was tasked with conducting the IPL 2025 auction.
Gujarat Titans suffer in IPL 2025 mega auction due to Mallika Sagar's blunder
However, her performance has been marred by several errors, leading to widespread criticism on social media.
One of the most noticeable blunders occurred during the IPL 2025 mega auction auction for Jos Buttler. Due to a miscommunication, Gujarat Titans ended up paying Rs 15.75 crore for the English wicketkeeper-batsman, despite a lower bid being placed by Rajasthan Royals.
However, due to a lapse in concentration, Mallika Sagar mistakenly announced a higher bid than intended, costing Gujarat Titans an additional INR 25 lakh. The confusion arose when the Titans were at INR 15.50 crore, and Sagar asked Lucknow Super Giants if they wanted to increase the bid to INR 15.75 crore. LSG declined, but Sagar mistakenly announced INR 15.75 crore as the final bid, resulting in the Titans paying more than necessary.
Another blunder occurred during the auction for Abhinav Manohar, who had a base price of Rs 30 lakh.
A bidding war ensued between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for Abhinav Manohar. After RCB withdrew, Gujarat Titans entered the fray. Sunrisers Hyderabad later joined the competition, eventually outbidding CSK to secure Manohar for Rs 2.80 crore. However, due to a miscommunication, the auction was reopened. Mallika Sagar, the auctioneer, realized that Kolkata Knight Riders had also placed a bid, which she had initially overlooked. As a result, SRH had to increase their bid to INR 3.20 crore to finalise the deal for Manohar.
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The newly appointed batting and assistant coach of Gujarat Titans, Parthiv Patel, expressed his excitement over the acquisition of Jos Buttler
“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,” Parthiv Patel said after Day 1 of the IPL 2025 auction.