Veteran India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar recently expressed his reservations against the IPL auction system, urging the BCCI to abolish it due to the heavy mental toll and anxiety it inflicts on players.
Bhuvneshwar, whose IPL journey began in 2010, admitted that staying calm during the high-stakes bidding process is incredibly difficult.
While the auction process brings immense pressure, the move turned out to be arguably the best chapter of his career. During the IPL 2025 mega auction, a fierce bidding war between the Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants drove his price up past Rs 6 crore.
Since Bhuvneshwar was busy captaining Uttar Pradesh in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match at the time, he had to walk onto the field and stop watching the screen. It wasn't until a few overs into the game that a teammate ran out to inform him that Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) had swooped in with a winning bid of Rs 10.75 crore.
“It’s a mental toll on players, big time, because I remember when, I think the auction happened in 2013-14, when SRH picked me, at that time I was playing for India, but you remain very nervous mentally," Bhuvneshwar told Jatin Sapru in an interview.
"Even if you don’t say it, mentally you feel, ‘What will happen, what won’t happen?’ I won’t call it ‘mentally disturbed’, but you stay worried. I think I know it’s irrelevant, but if someone gives the option, I would remove the auction, because it’s not right for players’ mentality," he added.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar served as a vital architect in RCB’s historic back-to-back IPL championship campaigns. While the right-arm quick claimed 17 wickets in 2025, he was phenomenal this year, picking up 28 scalps and finishing with the best economy rate among the top five wicket-takers.
Bhuvneshwar expressed surprise at being signed by RCB after initial bidding involved different franchises. He noted that the support staff's relaxed approach helped create a calm environment despite the high-pressure auction cycle.
“When I was told RCB had bought me, I was a bit surprised, because when the auction was going on, there were two other teams; when I was told RCB bought me, I was like, ‘okay’," he said.
“But messages came from RCB, of course, from the support staff, from the director, welcoming me and all those things. And I was happy to be part of a team with such a good and big fan base. And when I first met the support staff, there was one simple thing in them: ‘if we win, that would be great; if we don’t win, it’s just one more year.’ So I think everyone was excited, they were prepared, but they were relaxed," Bhuvneshwar remarked.
