Picture Credit: X
In a surprising move, England’s red-ball captain, Ben Stokes has opted out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction, set to be held across two days later this month in Saudi Arabia. In an official release which was pushed out on Tuesday, November 5, a total of 1,574 players have registered for the mega auction, out of which 409 are overseas players.
Out of the 409 players set to go under the hammer on November 24 and 25 in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, only 52 England players have registered their name, which is second most after Australia (76). Among the England internationals, Ben Stokes' name has come as a shock as he opted out from registering in the auction. This move is set to come as a big blow, however, it could see him get banned from featuring in the 2026 edition as per the latest Player Regulations which were announced by the IPL General Council in October.
Earlier, several reports had revealed that Ben Stokes was mulling to withdraw from IPL 2025 mega auction in order to priortise national duties. With Ashes series coming next year, Stokes wants to keep himself fit and avoid unnecessary workload of the T20 league. Speaking of his numbers in the cash-rich league, across 43 games, Stokes has scored 920 runs with a strike rate of 134.50 and two centuries to his name. With the ball, he has picked 28 wickets with an economy of 8.56.
J ames Anderson registers for IPL 2025 mega auction; sets INR 1.25 Crore as his base price
Former England speedster and one of the legends of the game, James Anderson has registered his name for the IPL 2025 mega auction. The former England cricketer retired from Test cricket a few months back during a series against West Indies. However, he has never featured in the IPL since the inception of the tournament in 2008.
Further speaking of the legend, Anderson has registered for the auction, setting his base price at INR 1.25 Crore. Moreover, it is to be seen that Anderson’s last T20 game came more than 10 years ago when he played for Lancashire in the NatWest T20 Blast against Warwickshire. After his retirement, he took over as England’s bowling coach for The Three Lions.
