Former England pace bowler James Anderson recently revealed that he has registered himself for the approaching Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction. It was the first time the English cricketer expressed his interest to take part in IPL since his last appearance in T20 internationals against South Africa in 2009 at the age of 27. In the same year, Anderson played his last domestic tournament in the T20 blast final representing Lancashire.
The 42-year-old’s name with a base price of INR 1.25 crores was a huge surprise in BCCI’s list of registered players officially announced on November 5 (Tuesday). It has been nearly 10 years since Jimmy Anderson played a white ball cricket at an international level including his last game against Afghanistan on 13th March 2015.
Following his retirement from test cricket, Anderson has been part of England’s coaching staff as a fast-bowling consultant in their home series during the summer and also their red-ball tour to Pakistan in the previous month.
England’s leading wicket-taker in tests revealed that acquiring an IPL contract would enhance his knowledge of the sport and help his coaching skills by taking part in the world’s most successful sports leagues. Anderson plans to open a new chapter in his domestic cricket career after concluding his international cricket career as the third-leading wicket-taker in tests. Whereas, the legendary cricketers rank ahead of him in the first two positions such as Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan (800 wickets) and Australia’s Shane Warne (708 wickets).
Why James Anderson’s Plans to Participate in IPL?
After registering for IPL, James Anderson in his recent conversation with the BBC Radio 4 podcast shared a few facts that there is still a lot of cricket left inside him to deliver outstanding performances to his team’s success:
“See! I feel that I can still play cricket as I have never played IPL in my career. It would be a new experience for me and I believe that there are numerous reasons that I can contribute to the team more as a player.
Earlier, I have been coaching since my retirement in the summer. Performing a bit of mentoring for the England team or whatever role you would like to name it as I consider it to be an eye-opener.
I just feel that gaining this exposure would open up my thoughts and enjoying it might help me gain in-depth knowledge about cricket and help expand beyond the limits,” James Anderson said.
Anderson’s Previous IPL Attempt
Most of us wouldn’t be aware of the fact that James Anderson attempted to mark his IPL debut back in 2012. At that time, it wasn’t possible as he wasn’t able to receive any bids. One of the main reasons could be that England’s core pacer stopped playing T20Is in 2009 by focusing mainly on test cricket. This prompted the franchises not to invest in a talented test player and rather search for alternatives who can perform well in T20s.
Will James Anderson be sold during the IPL 2025 Mega Auction?
Despite playing several years of international cricket, franchises with a limited budget after retaining their core players might not invest in a veteran bowler like James Anderson, who doesn’t have an outstanding success rate in the shorter formats.
Based on the new retention guidelines framed by the IPL governing council, the teams were allowed to retain only six core players out of INR 120 Crores Purse. Additionally, it includes a limitation of five capped players (Indian and foreigners) and two uncapped Indian cricketers.
In a dynamic-paced mega auction, all ten teams would aim to spend their remaining funds on young and talented players rather than the aged overseas cricketer.
At the age of 42, if Anderson manages to seal any of the foreigner’s positions in the squad then a young-eligible overseas cricketer wouldn’t get a fair chance and has the possibility of getting unsold.
Overall Facts:
Earlier, there were a few rumors that James Anderson was forced to retire by the team’s management rather than his desire. It becomes clear that although Anderson crossed the age of 40, there is still so much potential left inside him as he wants to experience playing franchise leagues such as the IPL. Keeping the age factor aside, James’s presence in the squad can bolster the pace bowling attack. The English fast bowler is one among the 1,574 players registered for the two-day IPL 2025 mega auction that is set to take place in Jeddah on the 24th and 25th of November (Sunday and Monday). However, the long list is expected to be cut down as all ten franchises can fill upto 204 slots
