Presently, it is not just the tournament but the auction too that is a spectacle to the fans. The 2026 Indian Premier League will start on March 16; however, the hype has been high four months before as the 2025 IPL mini auction will kick off on December 15. However, the scenario was not the same when it started, in 2008. No doubt, the IPL was a byproduct of India winning the 2007 World Cup. Even though it was BCCI who was dead against going for the then shortest format, they started the IPL, monetised it to be the biggest league in the cricketing world. The 2008 IPL auction witnessed the 2007 T20 World Cup-winning captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni being bought by Chennai Super Kings for the highest price—1.5 million dollars. Full-proof security and submitted phones However, there was no single footage of the 2008 IPL mega auction- the first ever auction. Speaking to India Today, the auctioneer of the season Richard Madley, recalled how the security was unusually higher than any auction. And that, the league will witness itself as a masterpiece later, there exists no a single frame. Madley, who currently holds auctions of other leagues globally, the owner of Kolkata Knight RIders, Shah Rukh Khan was not even spared from the security scrutiny. Notably, the auction was held in Mumbai's Oberoi Hilton. Blackberry phones, which are extinct now, were the iPhones of that generation! Even Blackberries had to be submitted at the counter outside before entering the action hall. Read also: When was the first ever cricket match televised? The infant franchises Funny enough, the franchises that often boast the brand value of their teams did not have a team name for them. they represented city names, like Hyderabad, Jaipur, Bengaluru etc. The room was packed with millionaires and billionaires, who had no idea how to make a paddle. Madley said, "They got two pieces of polystyrene and made them into ping-pong bats, with the city names electrostatically printed on them. I've still got one in my IPL collection. They look like something a 10-year-old schoolboy would make in an arts and crafts lesson. But that is how charmingly amateurish that first auction was. People turned up wearing suits and jackets, but there were no team colours, no badging, no branding whatsoever. I have photographs of the teams sitting around their tables that day, it was a mishmash." Names written on Balls instead of wooden planks As we see now, before a player goes for the paddle round, his name appears on a small wooden plank, with the name engraved in gold. however backin 2008, the names used to be written on miniature cricket balls. There used to be a red velvet bag, where all the balls used to be. Before announcing the name, the auctioneer used to pull out a ball, announce the name written on it, and carry on the process. The first name was the great Australian spinner, the late Shane Warne. The Jaipur-based franchise Rajasthan Royals, then owned by manoj Badale, bought him for 450,000 US dollars. The MS Dhoni Bidding myth As per the stories, all the franchises went for MS Dhoni. Even Madly joked that the franchise often loves to flaunt that they had bid for him. However, as per him, it was Bangalore and Chennai and Mumbai who went for Dhoni. Well, the moment, Dhoni's name was announced, "there was a hush, almost as if there was expectation. This was the name almost everyone had been waiting for." Many years later, Mumbai Indians owner Nita Ambani once said that she would always love to have Dhoni in her team. And this was true. The top three franchises, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Chennai Super Kings who went for him. But Chennai was pretty aggressive as M Srinivasan got him for the highest amount of the season. And the MS era started, and is still continuing. When was IPL auction first televised? The IPL auction is currently a separate event apart from the league itself. However, the first ever IPL Auction was televised in 2010, that is the very second year. The auction was hosted in Goa, with people actually watching it arranging leaves. It became so popular that, Madley remembered how people used to stop and greet him, saying how much they enjoyed the process. The SET MAX, which used to be the prime entertainer in most of our childhoods, was the first one to televise the auction. Till 2017, they had the right to broadcast the league, and had broadcast the auction with every nod on a table. As per reports, SET MAX charged Rs 50,000 for a 10-second spot advertisement. Notably, the upcoming 2026 IPL mini auction will be hosted in Abu Dhabi, on December 16, by Malika Sagar.