cricket

IPL auction: James Anderson goes unsold but Jacob Bethell earns deal and so does 13-year-old Indian

James Anderson missed out on an IPL deal but Will Jacks and Jacob Bethell were among the English players signed as a 13-year-old also got picked up.

Anderson, England's all-time leading Test wicket-taker, entered the auction despite not playing a T20 game in a decade and was hoping for his first experience of the marquee tournament.

However, the 42-year-old - who retired from Test cricket in July and is now England's fast bowling mentor - went unsold in Saudi Arabia with none of the 10 teams tempted by his reserve price of £115,000 as they finalised their squads for the 2025 edition.

Indian Vaibhav Suryavanshi, 13, became the youngest player bought in an IPL auction after being selected by Rajasthan Royals for £105,000, weeks on from smashing a 58-ball hundred for India U19s against Australia U19s in an unofficial Test in Chennai.

England white-ball batter Jacks was snapped up by Mumbai Indians for £500,000 and will have Reece Topley as a team-mate after the left-arm seamer was purchased by the five-time champions for £71,000.

All-rounder Sam Curran has returned to Chennai Super Kings in a £230,000 deal, two years after being signed by Punjab Kings for a then-record fee of £1.85m.

Bethell and Brydon Carse, currently with England's Test squad in New Zealand ahead of the series opener in Christchurch from Thursday, were also sold in Jeddah on Monday.

Batting all-rounder Bethell was signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore for £246,000, joining Phil Salt (£1m) and Liam Livingstone (£796,000) at the franchise after they were purchased on Sunday.

Fast bowler Carse went to Sunrisers Hyderabad for £95,000, while all-rounder Jamie Overton joined Curran at Super Kings for £143,000.

Former Super Kings all-rounder Moeen Ali was then picked up late on as defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders swooped in a £191,000 deal for the off-spinner and left-handed batter.

England white-ball captain Jos Buttler (Gujarat Titans), Jofra Archer (Rajasthan Royals) and Harry Brook (Delhi Capitals) were signed on Sunday, for £1.4m, £1.18m and £590,000 respectively, as the two-day auction began.

Adil Rashid, Jonny Bairstow, Gus Atkinson and Ben Duckett were among the England players who joined Anderson in going unsold.

The 2025 IPL - which will be live in full on Sky Sports - is set to start on March 14 and run until the final on May 25, although the fixtures have not yet been announced.