Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are the defending champions, having won their third IPL title in IPL 2024. However, they will head into the next season with a new skipper as their title-winning captain, Shreyas Iyer, parted ways with the franchise and then was roped in by another at the mega auction.

The IPL 2025 Auctions saw that some of the former captains not make their way back to the previous franchises. KKR did bid for Shreyas Iyer but backed out and allowed him to join PBKS in the end.

Let's take a look at five 'underpaid' players, who fetched a much lesser fee than expected at the IPL 2025 Mega Auction.

The IPL 2025 season will feature several new opening pairs after the mega auction, except maybe for Delhi Capitals, Kolkata Knight Riders, and Sunrisers Hyderabad, who retain last season's openers. Key changes include Jos Buttler partnering with Shubman Gill for Gujarat Titans and Phil Salt with Virat Kohli for Royal Challengers Bangalore.