Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes that James Anderson could end up playing for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Anderson, who retired from international cricket earlier this year, has signed up for the mega auction, which is set to be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on November 24 and 25. The 42-year-old has set his base price as INR 1.25 crore, and it needs to seen whether any franchise picks him up in the mega auction or not.
Vaughan believes that CSK have always been a franchise who have liked to have swing bowlers in their team, and hence it would not surprise him if Anderson ends up playing for the franchise, which recently retained MS Dhoni as an uncapped player.
“You mention James Anderson, I wouldn’t be surprised if Jimmy Anderson ends up at Chennai Super Kings. You heard it here first. They are a team that like someone who can swing it in the first few overs. They had a swinger, be it Shardul Thakur,” Michael Vaughan said on the Club Prairie Fire Podcast.
“It would not surprise me if Jimmy Anderson ends up at Chennai,” he added.
‘Want to play cricket again’
Speaking to Sky Sports, James Anderson had recently said that he is keen to play cricket again, hence, he decided to sign up for the IPL mega auction.
It is important to mention that James Anderson has not featured in a T20 match since 2014. He has also never played in the IPL.
“That’s the whole point of going in the auction, I think, I want to play cricket again. Whether I get picked up or not is a different matter. There’s definitely a feeling inside of me that I’ve got more to offer, in some shape or form,” Anderson said on Sky Sports.
“So, however long down the line that might be, in whatever capacity that might be I’m not sure yet. But I’m really keen to play. I feel really fit, I’ve been bowling still, ticking over, so I feel like I’m in a good place and I’d love to have an opportunity to play somewhere,” he added.
Anderson has also never played in a global T20 franchise tournament. His last T20 match came in 2014 for Lancashire.
The swing bowler, who has more than 700 Test wickets, has played 44 T20 matches, 19 of those for England, while picking up 41 wickets.
The 42-year-old had played his last Test in July at the Lord’s Cricket Ground against the West Indies. Anderson is only the third bowler in international cricket after Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne, to have more than 700 Test wickets.
