As many as 1574 players from 17 countries have signed up for the IPL 2025 mega auction, which will be held over two days on November 24 and 25 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The list includes 320 capped players, 1,224 uncapped players, and 30 players from Associate Nations. While the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, and KL Rahul are set to trigger a massive bidding war, one player from Italy has also thrown his hat into the auction ring.
Thomas Jack Draca is the first Italian cricketer who has registered to be a part of this global cricket extravaganza.
His registration marks a historic moment for the sport in a football-crazy country and raises the profile of Italian cricket on the global stage.
Draca, a right-arm medium pacer, made his T20I debut for Italy on June 29, 2024, against Luxembourg during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub-Regional Europe Qualifier Group A match played in Spinaceto. He has played four T20Is so far and has eight wickets to his name.
Draca, who has played for Brampton Wolves in the Global T20 Canada 2024 in July-August, was roped in by Mumbai Indians’ sister franchise MI Emirates for the 2025 season of ILT20 in September. If shortlisted for the auction, he could be fetched by the Mumbai-based franchise.
Meanwhile, England all-rounder Ben Stokes’ name is missing from the list of registered players. As per reports, Stokes opted out of the cash-rich league to priorities Test duties.
However, England pace legend James Anderson, who retired from international cricket earlier this year, has thrown his hat into the auction ring at a base price of INR 1.25 crore. The 42-year-old has never participated in the IPL and his last T20 appearance was more than 10 years ago when he played in the Natwest T20 Blast match between Lancashire and Warwickshire.
Australia’s left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc, who was signed by Kolkata Knight Riders for a hefty sum of INR 24.50 crore in last year’s auction, has set a base price of INR 2 crore. Besides him, other Aussie stars like Steve Smith, Mitchell Marsh, and David Warner are expected to go under the hammer as well.
