Are Old IPL Jerseys Worth Money? What Shirts Really Sell For

Mostly, no. A replica IPL shirt bought from a shop is worth little second-hand, however old it is, because thousands were made and nothing about it is unique. What sells is a shirt a named player wore in a match, ideally signed, with a clear record of where it came from. Even those sell for hundreds or low thousands of pounds at UK auctions rather than the sums the headlines suggest. This page sets out the evidence.

Three Kinds of Shirt, Three Kinds of Value

• Fan and replica shirts are the mass-produced versions sold in shops. Their value is what they cost new, and it only falls once they are worn.
• Player-specification shirts are retail shirts made to the on-field design. In 2024 adidas launched India's authentic match jersey at Rs 5,999 against Rs 999 for the fan jersey, and in 2022 England's kit supplier began selling the Pro Test shirt alongside the replica. They are better shirts, but they are still retail products, not shirts issued to a player.
• Match-worn shirts were worn by a named player in a named match. This is the only kind with real collector value, and only with provenance.

Our guide to authentic cricket shirts explains how to tell licensed shirts from fakes.

What Match-Worn Shirts Actually Sell For

The Red for Ruth prices, reported by Outlook India, came from shirts collected straight after the 2025 Lord's Test between England and India, signed by the players and digitally authenticated, and sold for the Ruth Strauss Foundation. Charity sales run high because buyers are paying partly for the cause. The Alastair Cook shirt is the better market guide: an England captain's match-worn shirt from a Test hundred, signed, framed and with a documented history, sold for £1,400 at an ordinary sporting memorabilia auction. Not everything sells at all; a signed, match-worn Graham Gooch England one-day shirt failed to meet its reserve at the same auction house in December 2025.

Old IPL Shirts Specifically

IPL sides have put match-worn shirts on the market themselves, almost always for charity. In 2022 Delhi Capitals auctioned shirts worn against Royal Challengers Bangalore, signed by the players after the match, for the GMR Varalakshmi Foundation. Prices from those sales are rarely published. What we could not find is any reliable record of used replica IPL shirts selling for more than their original price, which is the honest answer to the question most people are asking.

The exceptions are the shirts that are hard to find new: a short-run special edition, a design from the league's early seasons, or a shirt from a team that no longer exists. Those can be worth something to a collector, but there is no published price guide, and value depends on finding the one buyer who wants that shirt.

How to Tell if a Shirt Is Really Match-Worn

1. Where did it come from? The strongest provenance is a team or official auction, like the Delhi Capitals sales or Red for Ruth, where shirts are collected from the players straight after the match.
2. Is there wear? Auction houses describe stains, fading and repairs as evidence of use.
3. Who vouches for it? Auction houses do not always issue their own certificates; BUDDS states that any certificate comes from the seller. A certificate is only as good as whoever signed it.
4. Does the story check out? The Cook shirt carried his England number, his initials and an inscription naming the innings, and the seller could explain how it reached them.

Should You Buy Shirts as an Investment?

No. Buy a shirt because you want to wear it or because it fills a gap in a collection. A replica will not appreciate, and match-worn shirts are a specialist market where prices depend on one player and one moment. Our guide to cricket jersey collecting covers building a collection for its own sake, and the IPL jerseys guide covers each side's designs.

FAQs: Old IPL Jersey Values

Are old IPL jerseys worth anything?
A replica is worth little second-hand. A match-worn, signed shirt from a famous player with clear provenance can sell for hundreds or thousands of pounds.

What is a match-worn cricket shirt worth?
Match-worn, signed Test shirts from India's stars sold for £4,000 to £4,600 at a 2025 charity auction; Alastair Cook's signed Test shirt sold for £1,400 in 2023.

What is the difference between a fan jersey and an authentic jersey?
The authentic or player version is made to the on-field specification and costs more; adidas priced India's at Rs 5,999 against Rs 999 for the fan shirt. Neither is a shirt a player wore.

How do I sell an old cricket shirt?
A replica sells best as a used shirt. A match-worn or signed shirt with provenance is worth showing to a specialist sports memorabilia auction house.