IPL mega auction: Ben Stokes opts out, James Anderson lists himself at INR 1.25 crore

Highlights

Thomas Draca has become the first Italian player to register for the glitzy league

Hyderabad: England captain Ben Stokes has opted out of the upcoming Indian Premier League’s mega player auction while compatriot and retired fast bowler James Anderson has registered himself.

This means that Stokes cannot register himself for the mini player auctions that will take place after the end of the next season, as per the new IPL rules.

Meanwhile, this is the first time James Anderson has registered for the IPL player auction. The former England speedster has set himself a base price of INR 1.25 crore.

The last time Anderson played a T20 match was way back in 2014 – 11 years before the upcoming season of the IPL begins – and it would be interesting to see if any franchise bids for the former England fast bowler.

Along with Anderson, USA cricketer Saurabh Netravalkar has also registered himself at a base price of INR 30 lakh.

Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon, who had gone unsold in previous auctions, has also entered the fray with a base price of INR 2 crore. Lyon’s compatriot Mitchell Starc, who was the most expensive buy in the last year’s IPL mini auction at a price of INR 24.50 crore, has registered with a base price of INR 2 crore along with England fast bowler Jofra Archer.

The 1,574 player list includes marquee Indian players like Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Venkatesh Iyer, Avesh Khan, Deepak Chahhar, Devdutt Padikkal, Ishan Kishan, Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar among others who have all listed themselves at a base price of INR 2 crore.

Sarfaraz Khan and Prithvi Shaw, who were unsold in the last IPL auction, have registered themselves at the base price of INR 75 lakh.

Meanwhile, Thomas Draca has become the first Italian player to register for the glitzy league. Draca, a medium fast bowler, has played four T20Is for Italy. He made his international debut in June 2024.

He has been signed up to play for MI Emirates for the upcoming season of the ILT20 in the UAE.