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Legendary England seamer James Anderson announced his retirement from international cricket after playing in the first Test against the West Indies at Lord's earlier this year.
However, Anderson recently expressed his desire to continue playing the game, albeit in franchise leagues across the world. The 42-year-old currently works in a coaching position with England's bowlers.
"I feel there is something there, that I still want to play a little bit more - I just don't know what that is yet," Anderson told the Final Word podcast.
"I'm pretty open to anything at the minute. Things will become clearer as the rest of the year progresses. There's two Test tours in the winter and I'm not sure I'll be on them in this [coaching] role," he continued.
"There's plenty of things to think about and I just need to sit down and chat to people about it. I watch the Hundred and see the ball swinging around in the first 20 balls, and I think, 'I can do that. I can still do that.' I don't know if that is a viable option, to maybe see if I could do a job in white-ball cricket? Franchise cricket is something I've never done," Anderson added.
It is, of course, wishful thinking, but one feels that James Anderson, who was one of the finest proponents of swing bowling, would have had a big role to play in the IPL earlier this year, for whichever team he turned up.
In this listicle, we take a look at three teams where Anderson would have been a good fit in IPL 2024.
#1 SunRisers Hyderabad
The SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), who were the runner-up of the 2024 IPL, would have benefitted greatly by having Anderson in their ranks. Led by Aussie seamer Pat Cummins, SRH would have enjoyed Anderson's presence.
The latter's ability to swing the ball when it was new would have certainly helped them get wickets in the powerplay when the fielding restrictions were on. His picking up wickets early on would have helped their cause a lot.
SRH ended up falling short in the final of the tournament to eventual winner Kolkata Knight Riders, and although this was because of their batting unit failing as a whole, Anderson's presence with the ball in hand would have been reassuring.
#2 Rajasthan Royals
The Rajasthan Royals, that had just two overseas seamers in their ranks - Trent Boult and Nandre Burger - would have benefitted a lot by having Anderson guiding them through the pitfalls of the season.
The Royals did extremely well this season but were stopped in the Qualifier 2 stage by a rampaging SRH, might have been able to go the extra step if they had Anderson with them.
The Englishman would have enjoyed bowling in tandem with Trent Boult given that both are excellent swing bowlers. Although it would have increased the burden on the rest of the side owing to two overseas slots being taken up, it would have been worthwhile.
#3 Chennai Super Kings
The Chennai Super Kings, who performed rather poorly in IPL 2024 and ended in the fifth position just outside the reach of the playoffs, would have been helped a lot by the presence of the experienced Anderson.
Led by Ruturaj Gaikwad but taken care of by the omnipresent MS Dhoni, CSK would have been one of the best set-ups for Anderson to ply his trade in the IPL given how exciting their environment is.
The franchise gives a lot of importance to the mental and physical well-being of its players, and the Lancashire man would have enjoyed playing in the stress-free environment and focused solely on his performances.
