James Anderson, IPL: This year, England’s renowned fast bowler James Anderson, who retired from international cricket, was enlisted in the IPL 2025 mega auction. Anderson avoided participating in the IPL during his playing career, but at 42 years old, he entered the auction following his retirement. Yet, despite this, his name was not included in the auction, leading to his dreams of playing in the IPL being crushed.
He was the IPL auction’s oldest player to register his name
At the time James Anderson registered his name, he was the IPL auction’s oldest player to have done so. Had he been purchased, he would have been the IPL’s oldest player to be sold, yet that scenario did not occur. The title was supposed to be included in the auction on the following day but did not show up. Indeed, during the second day of the auction, all 10 teams chose the names of 143 players from the pool of 557 players left for bidding. Anderson’s name was absent from this list. That is the reason his name was not listed in the auction. Besides Anderson, Kane Williamson from New Zealand was also not included in the list; therefore, his name was not mentioned.
Last T20 match 15 years ago
Anderson’s career saw him play his final T20 match 15 years ago. In order to extend his Test career, he bid farewell to ODIs and T20s and concentrated solely on Tests. Anderson expressed his desire to participate in the IPL to gain valuable experience that could benefit him in his future coaching career.
Legend James Anderson went unsold at the age of 42.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi sold for INR 1.1 crore at the age of 13. #IPLAuction pic.twitter.com/PEpSIcUaiC
— Madhav Sharma (@HashTagCricket) November 25, 2024
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Anderson is currently in New Zealand, where the England cricket team is participating in the Test series. Anderson is accompanying the team. He has been assigned as the England team’s bowling mentor. Anderson once again donned the white Test kit when England played against New Zealand Prime Minister XI in the match. He holds the record for most wickets taken in Test cricket. Anderson is ranked third in the list of Test bowlers with the most wickets. He has taken a grand total of 704 wickets in 188 Test matches.