James Anderson went unsold at the 2025 IPL auction in Saudi Arabia today (November 25), and thus will not feature in next year's tournament.
The 42-year-old entered the auction following his Test retirement earlier this year. He was the oldest player in on the auction list that was announced ahead of the event.
On day two of the auction following the initial rounds of bidding, the 10 franchises submit a list of 143 players for the accelerated round, which featured players from number 117 to 557 on the list. Anderson was not on the list, nor were New Zealand all-rounder Glenn Phillips or former Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Kane Williamson.
The omission likely marks the end of Anderson's IPL hopes. He has never played in an edition of the IPL, despite his international playing career spanning the competition's entire history. Having always prioritised his Test commitments and limited his domestic appearances to preserve his international career, given his continued physical fitness, Anderson would have hoped to pick up a pay cheque from the league next year.
Exactly 15 years after playing his last T20I, James Anderson has been included in the final shortlist of players for the IPL auction.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) November 15, 2024
His last T20 in any tournament was ten years ago.
Will he get a bid by any of the ten teams? 🤔
READ: https://t.co/uoqBwzsqoa pic.twitter.com/QercUaRCtH
However, Anderson last played a professional T20 match over 10 years ago in the T20 Blast. He has played 44 T20 games in his career, including 19 T20 internationals, and has an average in the format of 32.14 while picking up 41 wickets. His last List A match came in the 2019 One Day Cup, where he played in the competition semi-final for Lancashire.
Anderson is currently in New Zealand fulfilling his role as bowling mentor for the England Test side. He put his Test whites on once again for the team's warm-up game against New Zealand Prime Minister's XI, as a substitute fielder during the two-day contest that ended in a draw.
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