File photos of MS Dhoni (left) and James Anderson.© BCCI and AFP
England great James Anderson has shown interest in taking part in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 by signing up for the aution that is set to take place on November 23 and 24. The former England fast bowler, who retired from international cricket this summer and took up a coaching role, has registered for the auction at a base price of Rs 1.25 crore. While speaking about the pacer, South Africa great AB de Villiers drew a similarity between him and former India player MS Dhoni, who continues to play in IPL for Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
De Villiers feels that the base price set by Anderson for himself is like a “pay cut”, something that Dhoni also took ahead of the upcoming season. Notably, Dhoni’s IPL salary was reduced from Rs 15 crore to Rs 12 crore ahead of IPL 2022. It got a further reduction this year as CSK have now retained him for a price of Rs 4 crore.
“It almost gives me a same kind of feeling with MS Dhoni that he decided to take a pay cut. Yes Jimmy, Rs 1.25 crores as a base price, which is not a lot for the status this guy has got. Maybe he will go for only 1.25 and still be prepared to go to India, leave his family for almost three months and maybe not even play a game and share a dressing room with some of the young Indian fast bowlers,” said de Villiers on his YouTube channel.
“I think it’s fantastic and I was one of the franchise owners and I could get Jimmy for INR 2-3 crores. I would take him purely because I believe that there’s a lot of experience that can be shared with some of the young players, and just his aura and the dressing room will give the bowling unit confident. This guy knows his game inside out,” he added.
Anderson ended up his international career as the most successful fast bowler in Test cricket with 704 wickets. But in a surprising move, the 42-year-old registered himself for the IPL 2025 auction.
“He is 42 years old and might not be able to execute as well on the park anymore, but he still knows exactly what’s required to win games of cricket with the ball in hand. What I think is I hope someone picks him up purely from an experience point of view almost having like a bowling captain in the change room where he plays a lot of games or not, it doesn’t really matter,” De Villiers said.
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