James Anderson, who announced his retirement from international cricket earlier this English summer, entered the IPL auction for the first time in his career. Veteran England fast bowler James Anderson, who delivered a jaffa earlier this week by registering for the upcoming IPL 2025 mega auction, ended his silence over the act. The 42-year-old James Anderson, who announced his retirement from international cricket earlier this English summer, entered the IPL auction for the first time in his career.
In a rather surprising move, James Anderson, who last played a T20 match in 2014 and never played an IPL game, put his name on the 1574-player list for the mega auction, slated to take place on November 24 and 25 in Jeddah, at a base price of INR 1.25 crore.
James Anderson is one of the 1574 players who registered for IPL mega auction
As many as 1574 players officially registered for the two-day mega event, which comprises 1165 Indian and 409 overseas players. The list includes 320 capped players, 1,224 uncapped players, and 30 players from Associate Nations. In the capped category 48 are Indians, and 272 are overseas, while the uncapped list features 965 Indians.
INR 2 crore remains the highest base price at the auction, which features the likes of Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer – who were captains of Delhi Capitals, Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders, respectively, but were released ahead of the auction.
James Anderson, who bid adieu to his cherished format in August, after featuring in 188 Test matches and picking 704 wickets, the third-highest in world cricket, admitted that by playing in one of the best T20 franchise leagues in the world, he only wants to gain more experience and knowledge as a coach.
It was the first time James Anderson had expressed interest in playing the IPL since the league’s inception in 2008. The decision has helped raise eyebrows as it came months after he retired from Test cricket. James Anderson worked with the coaching staff of the England Test team, as their fast bowling consultant, in their home summer and their overseas tour of Pakistan.
The 42-year-old had maintained that he was ready to play Test for a couple more seasons and that he did not have a lot of say in the decision to retire as the England team management had made it clear at the start of the season that were planning to move on. James Anderson played 19 T20 internationals for England between 2007 and 2009 and last played a T20 match in 2014 for Warwickshire in Birmingham.
Former England fast bowler James Anderson opened up about his decision to register for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction. The 42-year-old was a surprise name in the long list of registered players announced by the BCCI on Tuesday, November 5. Anderson has set a base price of Rs 1.25 crore.
James Anderson ends silence on surprise registration for IPL 2025 mega auction at 42
England’s now-retired fast-bowling great, James Anderson explained his decision to have listed himself for the upcoming Indian Premier League mega-auction. The pacer aims to participate in the leading franchise cricket league in hopes of improving his knowledge of the game.
The 42-year-old Anderson had last played a T20 game in 2014 and has not participated in the IPL. Now he has registered himself and will be in the auction at a base price of 1.25 crores INR.
James Anderson feels that he can still go about and play and feels that he has a lot more to contribute and hopes that he can possibly make an impact in the IPL.
“There is still definitely something in me that thinks like I can still play. I have never done the IPL; I have never experienced it and I think for a number of reasons I feel like I have more to give as a player,” Anderson told BBC Radio 4 Today in a podcast.
By participating in the IPL, he feels that he can learn a lot from the experience of playing T20 internationals, which could come in use during his coaching career. He has been a part of the England setup and the knowledge of playing in the IPL good serve him in good stead.
“I have done a little bit of coaching since I have finished in the summer. I have been around the England team doing a bit of mentoring or whatever you like to call it,” he said.
“I just think opening my eyes to something like that and experiencing it, sort of might help me grow my knowledge of the game and help further down the line,” Anderson added.
James Anderson finds himself amongst the greatest bowlers of all time as he finished with 704 wickets to finish as the highest wicket-taker amongst fast-bowlers and the third highest-wicket-taker ever, behind the likes of Shane Warne (708) and Muttiah Muralitharan (800). It will be interesting to see if any of the IPL sides would be willing to shell out at least 1.25 crores for the services of the veteran and whether he would make it to the starting 11 as well.