James Anderson tops IPL 2025 auction list without Ben Stokes; Pant, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer command highest base price

In a stunning development, former England pace bowler James Anderson, known for his exceptional swing bowling skills, has thrown his hat into the ring for the IPL 2025 mega auction. Despite never having played in the IPL and last featuring in a T20 match back in 2014, Anderson is set to be a major attraction at the upcoming auction scheduled for November 24 and 25 in Jeddah. Known for his remarkable career in international cricket, Anderson retired from playing earlier this year and has since transitioned into coaching, currently serving as the bowling coach for the England national team. His decision to enter the IPL auction has surprised many, and fans are eager to see if the veteran cricketer can secure a contract in the lucrative T20 league.

According to a report in ESPNCricinfo, top India stars, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer - who were captains of Delhi Capitals, Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders, respectively, but were unfortunately released ahead of the auction, listed themselves for the highest base price of INR 2 crore. Also part of the list is Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal, who plied trades with Rajasthan Royals in the previous season.

Mohammed Shami, who has not played competitive cricket since the 2023 ODI World Cup final as he continues to recover from his ankle injury with no confirmation yet on his potential return date, also listed himself in the 2-crore list. Other Indian players include - haleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Venkatesh Iyer, Avesh Khan, Ishan Kishan, Mukesh Kumar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Prasidh Krishna, T Natarajan, Devdutt Padikkal, Krunal Pandya, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj and Umesh Yadav.

Among notable overseas players in the 2-crore category are former Kolkata Knight Riders bowler Mitchell Starc, who was roped in for a whopping INR 24.50 crore in the last IPL auction, and England's Jofra Archer, who last played an IPL match for Mumbai Indians in 2023. Meanwhile, England red-ball captain Ben Stokes opted out of the next IPL season.

Punjab Kings will be heading into the two-day mega event on the back of a highest auction purse of INR 110.5 crore, having retained only two uncapped players. They are followed by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (INR 83 crore), Delhi Capitals (INR 73 crore), Gujarat Titans (INR 69 crore), Lucknow Super Giants (INR 69 crore) Chennai Super Kings (INR 55 crore), Kolkata Knight Riders (INR 51 crore), Mumbai Indians (INR 45 crore), Sunrisers Hyderabad (INR 45 crore), Rajasthan Royals (INR 41 crore).

The auction list comprises 1574 cricketers. Of the total players, 320 are capped players, 1,224 uncapped players and 30 players from the Associate Nations. 1165 of the total players are Indians, comprising 48 capped and 965 uncapped, while 409 players are overseas. Each franchise will be able to form a maximum squad of 25 players (including respective retained players), and a total of 204 slots will be up for grabs from the auction.