IPL 2025 mega auctions again demonstrated that player acquisitions can turn very unpredictable and high-stake in nature. Some of the franchises made smartest strokes with their strategic purchases; while others got themselves allured into questionable buying choices which may ultimately damage the potential of their tournament success. This year, the Saudi Arabian auction proved to be a frantic process of bidding wars and some very bizarre player acquisitions that left cricket experts and fans equally bewildered. Huge sums of money on players with worse track records point to the problem of team building in contemporary T20 cricket. Top 10 Worst Buys in IPL 2025 Mega Auction - Auction Blunders Table Rank Player Team Price 1 Glenn Maxwell Punjab Kings ₹4.2 Crore 2 Deepak Hooda Chennai Super Kings ₹1.70 Crore 3 Faf du Plessis Delhi Capitals ₹2 Crore 4 Sherfane Rutherford Gujarat Titans ₹2.70 Crore 5 Abdul Samad Lucknow Super Giants ₹4.50 Crore 6 Arjun Tendulkar Mumbai Indians ₹30 Lakh 7 Rasikh Salam Royal Challengers Bengaluru ₹6 Crore 8 Ravichandran Ashwin Chennai Super Kings ₹9.75 Crore 9 Jitesh Sharma Royal Challengers Bengaluru ₹11 Crore 10 Krunal Pandya Royal Challengers Bengaluru ₹5.75 Crore Detailed Analysis of Top 10 Worst Buys in IPL 2025 Mega Auction Glenn Maxwell (₹4.2 Crore) Image Source : BCCI It's a testament to hope overcoming historical evidence. Beyond that unforgettable 2014 debut season, Maxwell's IPL career has been a rollercoaster of disappointment. Statistics speak volumes: after that explosion of 552 runs, the following seasons were all dramatic declines. From 145 runs in 2015 to a mere 108 runs in 2020, Maxwell has been the poster child for inconsistency. The 2024 season was particularly disastrous, as he could muster only 52 runs with an average of 5.78. With an embarrassing tally of 18 ducks in his IPL career, Maxwell is a high-risk, low-reward proposition. Release by Royal Challengers Bangalore without using a Right to Match (RTM) card says much about the market value that has fallen down. Also Read | IPL 2025 Auction: Who Will Be the Top 5 Highest-Paid Bowlers? Deepak Hooda (₹1.70 Crore) Image Source : Getty Images More questions than answers have been raised by CSK's acquisition of Hooda. His IPL career has been a narrative of unfulfilled potential and sporadic performances. Last season, he scraped through with 145 runs in 11 matches at a dismal average of 18.12. In other words, things went from worse to worse for him in 2023 when he could make only 84 runs in twelve top-notches at a strike rate of 7.63. Most of all, his lifetime IPL stats make for a proud portfolio-1,465 runs in 118 matches, at 18.31. A strike rate of 129.53 doesn't really help to put any case for his inclusion in the ranks of a team so much synonymous with smartness in tactics and strategy. Hooda at CSK seems more like a reserve player than a game-changer. Faf du Plessis (₹2 Crore) Image Source : Getty Images The two main issues with the signing of du Plessis are his age and tactical fit. He is 40 years old, which makes him a relic of the past in T20 cricket. Delhi Capitals have a very strong top order in KL Rahul, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Harry Brook, and Tristan Stubbs, so there is little space for the veteran opener. His base price sale at ₹2 crore is a very strong pointer to the lack of confidence in the market. Though du Plessis has been consistent for RCB and before that, for CSK, he has become a luxury which this young, vibrant team can do without his dwindling mobility and power-hitting. Sherfane Rutherford (₹2.70 Crore) Image Source : Getty Images Rutherford's purchase is a betting bet with negligible probability of success. Having played just 10 IPL matches, he has managed only 106 runs at a dismal average of 15.14. The strike rate of 101.94 for a player who was going to add some punch from the middle order is extremely alarming. In 153 T20 matches worldwide, Rutherford has scored 2,471 runs at an average of 23.09. Though he has 12 fifties and a career strike rate of 134.14, his IPL performances reflect a huge gap between potential and actual delivery. Abdul Samad (₹4.50 crore) Image Source : Getty Images This is what Samad was sold for - ₹4.50 crore. It is not an easy journey for Samad in IPL, either. In 2024, he could manage 182 runs with an average of 18.20. The same script was followed in the previous seasons, too. In 2023, he could make 169 runs. In 2022, he barely made a difference, and earlier seasons witnessed ball-balancing acts. 19.23 average and a strike rate of 146.07 do not seem to justify such a huge investment. That Sunrisers Hyderabad decided to release him without using the RTM card speaks for itself. Arjun Tendulkar (₹30 Lakh) Image Source : PTI Arjun's selection smells of nepotism rather than cricketing merit. He has played only five IPL games and taken three wickets at an average of 38. His economy rate over 9 makes him more of a liability than an asset.Arjun being selected to play only a single game for a lousy IPL 2024-placed side is more out of sentimental reasons as a reward to his cricketing legacy-sporting father than by any cricketing calculus. Rasikh Salam (₹6 Crore) Image Source : Associated Press It makes no logical sense to spend ₹6 crore on a player who has hardly any top-tier experience. Salam has played only 11 IPL matches, with just nine wickets at an average of 37.66. His economy rate constantly over 10 makes this purchase look like a big financial mistake.In the 2024 season, he took nine wickets in eight games at an average of 29.88, with an economy rate of 10.97 - statistics that hardly justify such a substantial investment. Ravichandran Ashwin (₹9.75 Crore) Image Source : BCCI Ashwin, without doubt, is an old player. But CSK overpaid for him, and strategically it doesn't seem very bright. He adds one more option to an already seasoned team, replete with a choice of spinners. Now with T20 cricket, his batting skill has severely worn off.He's struggled to maintain strike rates and limit runs, making it a confounding purchase for the heavy price of ₹9.75 crore. CSK would probably have done well to have spent the same amount on younger, more dynamic spin talent. Jitesh Sharma (₹11 Crore) Image Source : BCCI RCB's decision to buy Jitesh Sharma for ₹11 crore seems especially baffling. The team seems to have made a fundamental mistake by letting go of KL Rahul, who was available for ₹14 crore. Sharma is a good wicket-keeper but does not seem to fulfill the critical needs of the team.The financial outlay seems too heavy in relation to his recent performances and the potential contribution he can make to the team's overall composition. Krunal Pandya (₹5.75 Crore) Image Source : BCCI Seven years since his best IPL season, Pandya's selection feels like a nostalgic memory. His returns from the last season of 133 runs and six wickets hardly inspire confidence. At Chinnaswamy, known for its batting-friendly conditions, Pandya's limited capabilities become even more pronounced.The last productive season for him was seven years ago when he managed to score 243 runs and took 10 wickets. Ever since then, his contributions have been at best minimal, so the investment here is questionable at best. Also Read | IPL 2025: Top 3 CSK Players Likely to Stay in Yellow Conclusion The IPL 2025 mega auction merely defines how complicated the game of player acquisition is. While the teams throw in millions, actual challenges come in converting potential into performance. These dubious buys remind us of how unpredictability in cricket extends well beyond the playing field into an intricate world of team management and strategic planning.