IPL 2025: Top 4 Most Expensive Players Who Haven’t Played Yet

Often hailed as the world’s wealthiest cricket league in the world, the Indian Premier League (IPL) boasts a total of ten franchises as of now and each franchise spends hefty amounts of money in order to get on board and retain the most seasoned and experienced players in the league.

According to the reports and statistics, the ten IPL franchises collectively spent a record-breaking INR 639.15 crore at the TATA IPL 2025 Mega Auction held in Jeddah in November 2024, surpassing the previous high of INR 551.7 crore set ahead of the IPL 2022 edition. Well, despite spending crores of money on-boarding new potential players and retaining the seasoned ones, a few franchises still haven’t allowed a few selected players to prove their calibre in the ongoing IPL 2025 season due to numerous issues.

In this article we will take a look at the top four most expensive players who haven’t been given a chance to play even a single match in the ongoing IPL 2025 edition.

IPL 2025: Top 4 Most Expensive Players Who Haven’t Played Yet

• Thangarasu Natarajan, Delhi Capitals (DC) – INR 10.75 Crore

The 34-year-old Indian international cricketer, Thangarasu Natarajan, who made his official debut for the Indian national cricket team in December 2020 in an ODI match against Australia, is at the first spot in our list of the top four most expensive players of the IPL 2025 season who haven’t received any opportunities to play so far.  Interestingly, Thangarasu Natarajan became the first Indian cricketer to make his international debut across all three formats on the same tour when he was playing in India’s 2020–21 tour of Australia, speaking volumes about his dominance and popularity on the field.

After proving his calibre for the Indian national cricket team and a couple of IPL franchises, including Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), the annihilating bowler from Tamil Nadu, Thangarasu Natarajan, was acquired by the Delhi Capitals (DC) franchise for a staggering INR 10.75 crore at the TATA IPL 2025 Mega Auction held in Jeddah in November 2024. Despite his massive price tag and match-winning hauls in the previous matches, Thangarasu Natarajan still hasn’t been given any chance by the DC to play even a single match in the ongoing IPL 2025 season.

• Mayank Yadav, Lucknow SuperGiants (LSG) – INR 11 Crore

At the second spot in our list of the top four most expensive players who haven’t been given a chance to play even a single match in the ongoing IPL 2025 edition, we have the 22-years old bowling sensation hailing from Delhi, India, Mayank Yadav, who successfully made his international debut against Bangladesh in a T20i match on 6 October 2024, and after Ajit Agarkar and Arshdeep Singh established himself as the third Indian bowler to bowl his first over as maiden in T20 International.

Mayank Yadav made his much-anticipated Indian Premier League (IPL) debut for the Lucknow SuperGiants (LSG) squad in the IPL 2023 edition and has been a mainstay for the squad ever since. Although Mayank Yadav missed out on his debut IPL 2023 due to an injury, he was retained by the LSG squad for the IPL 2924 edition and the sensational bowler left no stone unturned in proving his dominance on the field.

Mayank Yadav made headlines for picking up three wickets in his official debut match against the Punjab Kings (PBKS), allowing only 37 runs. Additionally, during his dominant bowling spell against Mayank Yadav, he bowled the fastest ball in the 2024 IPL season, at a speed of 155.8 kmph.

• Jacob Bethell, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), INR 2.60 Crore

English professional international cricketer, Jacob Bethell, who also plays domestic cricket for Warwickshire, is at the third spot in our list of the top four most expensive players who haven’t been given a chance to play even a single match in the ongoing IPL 2025 edition.

Jacob Bethell made his much-decorated IPL debut for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) franchise in the IPL 2024 edition and was officially retained by the RCB squad for a staggering INR 2.60 crore at the IPL 2025 mega auction held in Jeddah in November 2024.

Although fans anticipated Jacob Bethell to unleash fiery batting dominance throughout the IPL 2025 edition, he hasn’t been given any chance to play even a single match so far in the ongoing IPL 2025 season.

• Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Kolkata Knight Riders – INR 2 Crore

Finally, at the fourth spot in our list of the top four most expensive players of the IPL 2025 season who haven’t received any opportunities to play so far, we have the 23-year-old Afghan international cricketer, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who made headlines for becoming the first ever batsman for Afghanistan to score a century on debut in a One-Day International(ODI), against Ireland in January 2021.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz made his IPL debut for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) franchise in the IPL 2023 edition and proved to be a mainstay for the squad owing to his ground-breaking performances in his debut season. In the IPL 2025 mega auction, Rahmanullah Gurbaz was retained by the KKR franchise for a whopping INR 2 crore, making him one of the most expensive players signed by the franchise for the season. As of now, Rahmanullah Gurbaz has not received any chances to play in the ongoing IPL 2025 edition.

ALSO READ: ODI Records : Top 4 Fastest Centuries in Cricket History