Ben Stokes has become the most expensive foreign player in Indian Premier League history when he signed for Rising Pune Supergiants. The England all-rounder was one of the English players to be snapped up in the #IPL auction as he was bought for £1.7m.
Tymal Mills went to Royal Challengers Bangalore for £1.4m, while paceman Chris Woakes was the third-most expensive English export when the Kolkata Knight Riders signed him for £504,140. Eoin Morgan, who is England’s one-day captain, has joined the Kings XI Punjab for £240,066. Surrey and England opener Jason Roy was sold to the Gujarat Lions and all-rounder Chris Jordan was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for £120,000 and £60,000 respectively.
Stokes’ fee surpasses IPL record
Stokes, who has recently returned to Durham for winter training, was a target for several other teams in the IPL. With the Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Darevils and Sunrisers Hyderabad all wanting to sign the player before Pune came out with their man.
The all-rounders’ fee has surpassed that of former England pair Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen – who were bought for £1.1m back in 2009. The competition is set to get underway at the start of April and runs for approximately seven weeks. The eight-team tournament is world-renown and is regarded as the premiere Twenty20 competition.
Life-changing money for Stokes and Mills
Stokes, who was with Durham and England teammate Mark Wood later that day, said that the money he will receive for playing in the tournament is “life-changing”.
“It was hard to follow on Twitter,” he told BBC Sport. “I wasn’t sure how much a Crore was – people were retweeting stuff, and it was complete carnage.
He continued: “I’m just seriously excited about getting going.”
You'd think we'd have something to talk about.... @benstokes38 pic.twitter.com/ZLxakG1Olt
— Mark Wood (@MAWood33) February 20, 2017
The other English players that will play in the tournament is Jos Buttler and Sam Billings, who will represent the Mumbai Indians and the Delhi Daredevils respectively.
Opener Alex Hales and wicketkeeper/ batsman Jonny Bairstow went unsold in the draft.
Paceman Mills echoed Stokes by saying the the money “can change your life” and “it will for me” the T20 specialist said. “When it finished, I did not know how much it was worth,” he said. “When I worked it out I could not believe it – it did not seem real.”
The Indian Premier League will start on 5 April and run until 21 May.
