- By Namrata Vijay
- Sun, 24 Nov 2024 09:35 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
IPL 2025 Mega Auction: Rajasthan Royals roped in Jofra Archer for a whopping amount of Rs 12.50 crore in Jeddah on Sunday. He was earlier the part of auction's longlist but then failed to make it to the final shortlist after the ECB stopped his NOC as they wanted him to prioritize 2025 Ashes over IPL 2025. But, in a surprising turn of events, he finally made it to the shortlist as England's 38th player, along with white-ball skipper Jos Buttler and fast bowler James Anderson.
Anderson, who is England's highest wicket-taker, grabbed the limelight by entering the auction since he has never played in a franchise league. England's Test skipper Ben Stokes, pacer Mark Wood, and batter Joe Root are the ones who pulled out from IPL 2025.
Archer's career has been affected by injuries and that's why he stayed away from competitive cricket for a long time. He hasn't played in the longest format since 2021. He did go through fitness issues but was bought by MI in IPL 2022 and had played in just four matches for them in IPL 2023. He did have a successful stint with RR and thus made a comeback to the franchise.
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On the other hand, Mumbai Indians have once again bought Trent Boult for a whopping amount of Rs 12.50 crore at the mega auction. Teams like LSG, GT, and RR were also involved in a bidding war for him.
Boult had entered his name at the mega-auction at a base price of Rs 2 crore. He represented Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2024.
He made his IPL debut almost 10 years ago and has represented five teams till now. He began his IPL career by playing for SRH and in his debut season he took nine wickets after playing in seven matches.
In the 2016 IPL season, he played for SRH in just one match and was then bought by KKR in IPL 2017. He played for them in just one season and was then bought by DC in IPL 2018 and 2019.
After two seasons, he was bought by Mumbai Indians, and in 2020 he took 25 wickets and helped MI lift the title. In 2013, he took 13 wickets and was then bought by RR in IPL 2022. In three seasons he took 45 wickets for RR.
At the same time, SRH roped in Rahul Chahar for Rs 3 crore 20 lakh at the auction.
Rajasthan Royals roped in Mahesh Theekshana for Rs 4.40 crore. Mumbai Indians also began the bidding war for him but then stopped.
