IPL 2025 mega auction: Why is Jofra Archer not shortlisted despite registering for auction? - Explained

Jofra Archer last played in the IPL in 2023.

On November 15, the BCCI released the list of the 574 players who will go under the hammer at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction, which will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on November 24 and 25.

This will be a two-day event. On both days, the auction will kick off at 12.30 PM Local time (3:00 PM IST).

Of the 10 teams combined, a total of 204 slots can be filled in the mega auction. Out of these, a maximum of 70 slots can be filled with overseas players.

Earlier, a total of 1574 players had registered themselves with the BCCI for the mega auction. The board then shortlisted 574 players that were submitted by the franchises to be brought up for auction.

In this 574-player list, while some interesting names have popped up, including 42-year-old James Anderson and 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi, one of the biggest names missing is that of Jofra Archer.

Jofra Archer had registered himself among the 1574 players initially but he is not part of the list of players who will go under the hammer at the mega auction.

Why is Jofra Archer not listed for IPL 2025 mega auction?

There could be two reasons for Archer’s absence from the mega auction. Either none of the 10 franchises showed interest in Archer when submitting their list to the BCCI, or the ECB withdrew him from IPL 2025 to manage his workload.

Archer has had a history of injuries since 2021, he made a solid comeback in recent months and has been injury-free since his comeback in May. He has featured in 19 internationals – 13 T20Is and six ODIs – since May and has at times bowled with menace.

He has missed the majority of the last three IPL seasons. He was bought by Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL 2022 mega auction even though MI knew he was injured and would miss the entire season. He played only five matches in IPL 2023 and was then released by MI. The ECB then pulled him out of the IPL 2024 season to manage his workload as he recovered.

Keeping his injury track record in the past three years in mind, it seems that none of the franchises submitted his name with the BCCI.

However, it is also possible that the ECB once again withdrew Archer’s name from the IPL to manage his workload. If that is the case, then Archer will not be allowed to enter in the mini-auction next year ahead of IPL 2026, according to BCCI’s latest rules for overseas players not entering in the mega auction.

Archer is a centrally contracted player with the ECB, his contract being worth approximately £700,000 (INR 7 crores) per year.

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