South African pacer Marco Jansen gave heads-up to all the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises ahead of the mega auction, scheduled to be held at Jeddah in Saudi Arabia later this month, with an all-round display that nearly won the Proteas the third T20I against India on Wednesday in Centurion. After taking a wicket during the Indian innings, Jansen came back to haunt the opposition with a 17-ball 54 that kept South Africa in the till the last over in a chase of 220. However, brilliant bowling from Arshdeep Singh in the final over, tilted things in India's favour.
Jansen's batting not only made South African fans step out of their seats but also prompted former South African pacer Dale Steyn make a '10 crore' prediction about the youngster ahead of the IPL 2025 auction. "Marco Jansen. A 10 crore player? I'd say so," wrote Steyn on his X account.
During his innings in Centurion, Jansen smashed four fours and five sixes. His maiden T20I fifty was also the second-fastest (in 16 balls) half-century for South Africa in the shortest format of the game.
The 24-year-old was first picked in the IPL when Mumbai Indians bought him at the 2021 auction for just ₹20 lakhs. However, the South African got limited opportunities at MI, playing only two matches. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) brought Jansen the following year.
At SRH, Jansen played 19 games across three seasons, taking 18 wickets. He was released last month by the 2016 champions ahead of IPL 2025 auction. With his batting ability coming into fore, Jansen might pocket a hefty amount in the bidding war on during the two-day event on November 24 and 25.
For IPL 2025 mega auction, a total of 1574 players have registered, out of which 409 are from overseas. South Africa has most number of cricketers registered - 91. Apart from Jansen, other big South African stars to have registered for the auction are Dewald Brevis, Nandre Burder, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Faf Du Plessis, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller and Lungi Ngidi.
