James Anderson ends silence on surprise registration for IPL 2025 mega auction at 42: 'There's definitely something...'

Veteran England fast bowler James Anderson, who delivered a jaffa earlier this week by registering for the upcoming IPL 2025 mega auction, ended his silence over the act. The 42-year-old, who announced his retirement from international cricket earlier this English summer, entered the IPL auction for the first time in his career. England's James Anderson poses for a team group photo ahead of the Test series

In a rather surprising move, Anderson, who last played a T20 match in 2014 and never played an IPL game, put his name on the 1574-player list for the mega auction, slated to take place on November 24 and 25 in Jeddah, at a base price of INR 1.25 crore.

"There is still definitely something in me that thinks like I can still play. I have never done the IPL; I have never experienced it and I think for a number of reasons I feel like I have more to give as a player," Anderson told BBC Radio 4 Today in a podcast.

Anderson, who bid adieu to his cherished format in August, after featuring in 188 Test matches and picking 704 wickets, the third-highest in world cricket, admitted that by playing in one of the best T20 franchise leagues in the world, he only wants to gain more experience and knowledge as a coach.

"I have done a little bit of coaching since I have finished in the summer. I have been around the England team doing a bit of mentoring or whatever you like to call it," he said.

"I just think opening my eyes to something like that and experiencing it, sort of might help me grow my knowledge of the game and help further down the line," Anderson added.

1574 players register for IPL mega auction

As many as 1574 players officially registered for the two-day mega event, which comprises 1165 Indian and 409 overseas players. The list includes 320 capped players, 1,224 uncapped players, and 30 players from Associate Nations. In the capped category 48 are Indians, and 272 are overseas, while the uncapped list features 965 Indians.

INR 2 crore remains the highest base price at the auction, which features the likes of Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer - who were captains of Delhi Capitals, Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders, respectively, but were released ahead of the auction.

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