In the New Delhi Tigers' first auction on July 6, they made a statement by following an established and obvious trail in their first DPL (Delhi Premier League) 2025 auction as one of the two new DPL franchises. The point being, from day one, they had a plan to marry experience and inexperienced youth; they capped out their ₹1.5 crore purse with a well-balanced roster, sized squarely for competitive play - it looks good on paper.

Leading the core the Tiger has retained (this is important), as the first retained player, signing Himmat Singh for ₹21 lakh. Himmat is a seasoned middle-order batter and natural leader who brings much-needed stability and experience to the squad; he is the backbone of the group.

The Tiger's most expensive signing, at ₹33 lakh, is right-arm pacer, Prince Yadav. Prince earns the hefty price tag based on how consistent he has been, season after season, in the domestic circuit. He is expected to head the entire bowling unit. The next most expensive signing came in all-rounder Pankaj Jaiswal at ₹24 lakh. They will have Batting and Bowling depth and firepower.

Balanced Strategy: Experienced Batters and Youthful Depth in Tigers’ Line-Up

The franchise was clever enough to buy reasonable buys and get Dhruv Kaushik (₹14 lakh), who is a good top-order batter, and Keshav Dalal (₹10.50 lakh), who has good experience through playing at the state level. There is also Hiten Dalal (₹6.25 lakh) and Vaibhav Rawal (₹5.50 lakh) who give them good flexibility at different stages of the batting order.

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Alongside some experienced names, New Delhi Tigers heavily pursued young uncapped players. Emerging players, such as Aatrey Tripathi, Aayush Kumar, Rahul Dagar, and Ruveer Kheterpal, were taken for ₹3 lakh. Long-term investment clearly took priority.

Lastly, they filled out the squad with a handful of budget options under ₹3 lakh signings such as Piyash Chhikara, Aryan Dalal, and Rahul Chaudhary, plus some promising youngsters like Nitesh Sharma, Ajay Rana, and Pradyuman Sanan who were bought for ₹1 lakh apiece.

Full Squad – New Delhi Tigers (DPL 2025)

Retained: Himmat Singh (₹21 Lakh)

Auction Buys: Prince Yadav (₹33 Lakh), Hiten Dalal (₹6.25 Lakh), Deepak Punia (₹5 Lakh), Dhruv Kaushik (₹14 Lakh), Vaibhav Rawal (₹5.50 Lakh), Keshav Dalal (₹10.50 Lakh), Aatrey Tripathi (₹3 Lakh), Aayush Kumar (₹3 Lakh), Rahul Dagar (₹3 Lakh), Ruveer Kheterpal (₹3 Lakh), Piyash Chhikara (₹2.60 Lakh), Nitesh Sharma (₹1 Lakh), Pratap Basista (₹1 Lakh), Ajay Rana (₹1 Lakh), Parikshit Singh Bhati (₹1 Lakh), Pankaj Jaiswal (₹24 Lakh), Aryan Dalal (₹3 Lakh), Shivam Gupta (₹1 Lakh), Pradyuman Sanan (₹1 Lakh), Rahul Chaudhary (₹3 Lakh), Varun Vanjani (₹1 Lakh)