In a dramatic turn of events, Jofra Archer has been added to the final list of players to go under the hammer just three days before the auction for the 2025 of the Indian Premier League (IPL). He is the 575th player in the list.
The Barbados-born England fast bowler was not a part of the initial list that the Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI) released and shared to the franchises last week. His absence from the list was quite surprising. However, the reason reported for his absence was that the England Cricket Board (ECB) are looking to manage his workload with a hectic Test season ahead. Archer has not featured in Test cricket since February 2021 and with England to face India and Australia in 2025, England will want their key pacer fit and firing.
According to reports on ESPNCricinfo, Archer’s availability was informed to the franchises informally on Thursday (November 21). The IPL or the BCCI have not made the announcement public yet. It’ll be interesting to see the set which Archer’s name pops up. His base price is INR 2 crore.
It is understood that the BCCI and ECB were constantly in touch over the past week to discuss Archer’s availability. ESPNCrininfo reported that ECB wanted to understand the repercussions if the 29-year-old did not take part in the upcoming auctions.
Over the last three seasons, Archer has featured in the IPL only once which was in 2023. His stint in that year was also cut short due to injury. He was bought by Mumbai Indians (MI) in the 2022 auction for a sum of INR 8 crore even though he was ruled out for that edition. He played five matches in 2023, taking just two wickets before he made himself unavailable for the 2024 edition.
Saurabh Netravalkar, Hardik Tamore also added to the auction list
The auction list which comprised of 574 players initially has now been expanded to 577. USA left-arm pacer Saurabh Netravalkar has also been added to the list. So has Mumbai wicket-keeper batter Hardik Tamore. The latter has played only 10 T20s in his career so far.
Meanwhile, Netravalkar was one of the shining stars for USA in the T20 World Cup 2024. He took six wickets at an economy rate of 6.63. His overall T20 record reads 51 scalps in 43 games. He picked up 15 wickets in seven matches in the Major League Cricket earlier this year.
A total of 46 players were retained ahead of the IPL 2025 auctions. A maximum of 204 players can be bought in the upcoming auction which is scheduled to be held on the 24th and 25th of November in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
