Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant became the most expensive player in Indian Premier League history on Sunday when he sold for a record $3.2 million, as teams splashed out on world-class cricketers for the lucrative Twenty20 tournament.

A total of 577 players are up for grabs at the two-day auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with Pant, England veteran James Anderson and New Zealand all-rounder Rachin Ravindra among the top names.

Afghanistan spinner Noor Ahmad meanwhile had a big pay day as he went to five-time champions Chennai Super Kings for $1.18 million.

The 2023 record of 247.5 million rupees Kolkata paid to Australian Mitchell Starc was first breached by Punjab Kings, who the IPL said snapped up Shreyas Iyer for a "handsome" 267.5 million rupees ($3.17 million).

Iyer, 29, captained Kolkata Knight Riders to their third IPL crown this year, AFP reported.

New Punjab coach Ricky Ponting, who left Delhi Capitals after this season, said they will make Shreyas captain if he agrees.

"I have worked with him three or four years at Delhi and obviously he is a championship winning captain from last season," Ponting said.

"We have got someone there that can do the job if that's the way we decide to go, so I am delighted to have him back."

Shreyas' record rapidly tumbled.

The IPL reported Lucknow Super Giants paid a "gigantic" 270 million rupees for 27-year-old star keeper Pant.

"Rishabh's history in the IPL and in the sport of cricket is unparallelled in terms of his skill, what he brings to the table," Lucknow owner Shashwat Goenka, said of the record buy.

"I think he came at what we had anticipated for him. We are very excited to have him as part of the squad."

Pant made an impressive return to competitive cricket in this year's IPL after a serious car crash in December 2022, AFP reported.

He came in as captain of Delhi Capitals but he and the team parted ways.

Later on day one Indian all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer hit the jackpot when he went to Kolkata for a whopping $2.81 million after a fierce bidding war with Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Venkatesh, a left-hand batter and right-arm medium pace bowler who was released by Kolkata only to be bought back, became the third-highest buy of the day.

Sizzling start

The auction started on a sizzling note when Indian quick Arshdeep Singh began a bidding war, which ended with Punjab getting the left-arm pace bowler for $2.13 million.

This year, Australian left-arm quick Starc was not retained by Kolkata -- and went to Delhi for $1.39 million.

Fellow quick Josh Hazlewood went for $1.48 million to Bengaluru, while England fast bowler Jofra Archer cost the same amount for the Rajasthan Royals.

New Zealand quick Trent Boult returned to five-time winners Mumbai Indians for $1.48 million.

Gujarat Titans paid $1.87 million for England white-ball skipper Jos Buttler, while India pace bowler Mohammed Shami went to Sunrisers Hyderabad for $1.18 million.

Australian David Warner and England's Jonny Bairstow went unsold, but could be brought back later in the auction.

The IPL has generated billions in revenue since its inception in 2008, turning the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) into one of the richest governing bodies in sport, AFP reported.

In June 2022 it sold the broadcast rights for five IPL seasons to global media giants for $6.2 billion.

The BCCI has sought to broaden the tournament's profile by staging the auction abroad.

Last year it was held in Dubai, a regular host for international cricket tournaments.

Like Saudi Arabia, it has a large base of prospective fans among its migrant worker population.

Putting the auction on in Jeddah is seen as a win-win for a tournament expanding its global reach and a kingdom using sports to improve its image.

The IPL is a huge earner for Indian cricket and the tournament makes more than $11 billion for the economy each year.

The pioneering IPL helped make Twenty20 cricket hugely popular, spawning copycat events worldwide.

Dates for next year's IPL have not been released but seasons usually run from March to May.

Afghanistan spinner Noor Ahmad had a big pay day as he went to five-time champions Chennai Super Kings for $1.18 million

Russia’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said in a meeting with Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul that a high-level Russian delegation will visit Kabul in the near future to discuss the expansion of bilateral cooperation with the Islamic Emirate.

Kabulov and Muttaqi discussed bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Russia, especially economic cooperation, investment and transit, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Muttaqi described the relations between the Islamic Emirate and Russia as important, stressing that the ties should be expanded to include economic and trade cooperation.

He said visits to Kabul by high-level officials was important, adding that during the past year, many officials of the Islamic Emirate have been invited to Russia to attend international meetings.

Meanwhile, the Russian diplomat said that his country wants to expand its relations with Afghanistan in the economic and trade sectors.

This comes on the heels of Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko’s comments that the completion of legal procedures to remove the Islamic Emirate from Moscow’s terrorist list will provide positive impetus to Russian-Afghan relations.

In an interview with Russia’s TASS news agency, published early Sunday, Rudenko said “removing the terrorist organization’s status from the Taliban Movement (Islamic Emirate) will attribute a positive impetus to Russian-Afghan interaction in various spheres, in the economy in the first instance."

"As regards the issue of the official recognition of current Afghan authorities, it is early to talk about it thus far. Let’s act gradually, step by step, but we do not intend to artificially impede the processes," Rudenko noted.

Russia has been slowly building ties with the Islamic Emirate since it regained power in Afghanistan in August 2021 but the IEA is still officially outlawed in Russia.

In response to Russia’s comments last month, the IEA’s acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said the Islamic Emirate “appreciates the positive remarks by the high-ranking officials of the Russian Federation in this regard and hope to see more effective steps soon."

Afghanistan Under-19 cricket team defeated the United Arab Emirates (UAE) U19 by eight wickets in the sixth match of the tri-nation series in Dubai on Sunday.

Asked to field first by UAE U19 who won the toss, Afghans bowled out the hosts for 88 runs in the 36.3 overs.

Afghanistan U19 chased down the target in the 21.2 overs.

Naseer Khan Maroofkhil claimed three wickets. Abdul Aziz Khatir Stanikzai and Rohaullah Arab picked up three wickets each.

Afghanistan U19 will play final against Pakistan U19 on Tuesday.