James Anderson enters IPL 2025 mega auction, Ben Stokes absent from registered players list

The much-anticipated IPL 2025 mega auction, scheduled for November 24-25 in Jeddah, has already sparked excitement with some surprising developments. Among the most shocking announcements is 41-year-old James Anderson, who has made a decision to bid for a spot in the lucrative T20 league despite having announced his retirement from international cricket earlier this year.

Anderson, who currently serves as England’s bowling coach, is making a dramatic shift from his player-coach role, setting the stage for a potential return to professional cricket in a new capacity.

This move has caught many by surprise, with Anderson’s entry into the IPL auction adding an intriguing twist to the event. Meanwhile, one notable absence from the list of 1,574 players registered for the auction is England's star all-rounder Ben Stokes. Stokes, who missed IPL 2024 to manage his workload and fitness, has opted out of the auction again. His decision comes after a hamstring injury in August during the Hundred, which sidelined him for two months, further complicating his participation.

Among the marquee names on the auction list, former IPL captains Rishabh Pant (Delhi Capitals), KL Rahul (Lucknow Super Giants), and Shreyas Iyer (Kolkata Knight Riders) are all listed with a base price of Rs 2 crore. Also on the high-end list are seasoned Indian players like R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Mohammed Shami, with the latter being sidelined since the 2023 ODI World Cup due to injury. Other prominent players at the same base price include Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Venkatesh Iyer, Avesh Khan, Ishan Kishan, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, among others.

Additionally, Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan, who went unsold in the previous auction, have also re-entered the pool at a base price of Rs 75 lakh. Mitchell Starc, who holds the record for the highest IPL price at Rs 24.50 crore, returns to the auction at a base price of Rs 2 crore. Fellow Australian pacer Jofra Archer, whose 2023 season with Mumbai Indians was cut short by injuries, is also available at the same base price.

An unexpected entry in the auction is Italy’s Thomas Draca, who has impressed in the Global T20 Canada and has already been signed by MI Emirates for the ILT20 in the UAE. Draca's inclusion marks the growing international diversity of the IPL player pool.

With 204 slots available for bidding, franchises will look to fill out their squads of up to 25 players. The total purse for each team is Rs 120 crore, and the auction will see some intense competition as teams like Punjab Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Delhi Capitals vie for the best talent.

Punjab Kings currently have the largest remaining purse of Rs 110.5 crore, followed by RCB with Rs 83 crore and DC with Rs 73 crore. Teams like MI, Chennai Super Kings, and Gujarat Titans, who retained five players each, are allowed just one RTM (Right to Match) option. On the other hand, Punjab Kings, with only two retained players, will have the most RTM options (four).