IPL Auction: Ben Stokes and Mills get highest price
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Bengaluru: The Auction of 10th season of Indian Premier League England all-rounder Ben Stokes was the costliest buy after the first round, going to Rising Pune Supergiants for a whopping Rs 14.50 crore (USD 2.16 million) after an intense bidding war.
Pune Supergiants, who removed Mahendra Singh Dhoni from captaincy on Sunday, entered late into the bidding at Rs 13 crore and clinched the deal at Rs 14.50 crore defeating bids from Mumbai Indians, Delhi Daredevils, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
With capable seam bowling all-rounders at a premium, Stokes was in the wish-list of five franchises, who engaged in tough bidding. The newly appointed England Test vice-captain thus became the first million dollar buy of the 10th edition auctions.
English pacer Tymal Mills was bagged by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for Rs 12 crore. Punjab, Mumbai, Delhi all tried to battle it out for Mills. Even KKR joined into the fray as his price soared past 10 crores. However, ultimately it was the Royal Challengers Bangalore who secured his services for a whopping Rs 12 crores.
Interestingly, Stokes’ limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan was taken at a base price of Rs 2 crore (USD 298,000) by Kings XI Punjab.
New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson went to Delhi Daredevils at his base price of Rs 1 crore.
One of the notable names that went unsold was former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan, whose base price was Rs 50 lakh.