sports

Ben Stokes became the most expensive overseas player in the IPL history

England all-rounder Ben Stokes became the most expensive overseas player in the IPL history. With Rising Pune Supergiants signing him up for Rs 14.5 cr, Stokes comfortably dwarfed Kevin Pietersen, who was bought for Rs 9 crore by Delhi Daredevils in 2014. Stokes’s bidding, however, wasn’t a case in isolation. The IPL player auctions in Bangalore on Monday oozed a strong English flavour. Fast bowler Tymal Mills got a Rs 12-crore contract – record for a specialist bowler – with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) after an intense bidding with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Chris Woakes went to KKR for Rs 4.2 crore, Eoin Morgan was roped in by Kings XI Punjab for Rs 2 crore and Jason Roy fetched Rs 1 crore after Gujarat Lions bought him in the second round. Chris Jordan struck a Rs 50 lakh deal with Sunrisers Hyderabad.
At Rs 3.2 crore to Mumbai Indians, Karn Sharma became the costliest Indian buy. Reputed Indian players were ignored again. Ishant Sharma’s experience and Cheteshwar Pujara’s solidity were not enough to convince the franchises. Irfan Pathan, Pragyan Ojha, RP Singh and Parvez Rasool too didn’t attract bids.
Afghanistan’s 18-year-old leggie Rashid Khan proved to be the biggest surprise package, going to defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 4 crore. His compatriot Mohammad Nabi joined him there for Rs 30 lakh, while Gujarat Lions’ Rs 10 lakh purchase of UAE batsman Chirag Suri rounded off the Associates’ tally. Overall, 66 players were sold and over Rs 91 crore had been spent.
Unlike the English players, the Aussies didn’t do well, especially during the first half of the auctions, when only two Aussies were bought. Even more strange was that the world’s best ODI and T20 bowler, South Africa’s Imran Tahir, went unsold. Some uncapped Indian players like Tamil Nadu fast bowler T Natarajan (30 times his base price) and Rajasthan seamer Aniket Choudhary superseded expectations, earning Rs 3 core and Rs 2 crore from Kings XI and RCB respectively.
But Stokes, with base price at Rs 2 crore, remained the biggest talking point. RCB had set the ball rolling but Mumbai Indians went up to Rs 8 crore. Daredevils raised the baton and took it to Rs 8.2 crore. The tug of war continued between the two before Sunrisers jumped in. By then Stokes’ price had gone up to Rs 13 crore. Supergiants had been quiet so far. But they started with Rs 13.5 crore. Sunrisers raised it to 14. But Supergiants were determined have the England Test vice-captain and at Rs 14.5 crore they had their man.
Over the past 12 months, the 25-year-old has scored 904 runs and took 33 wickets in 12 Tests, his ODI returns stood at 610 runs and 12 wickets from 16 matches, while in 12 T20 internationals he scored 118 runs and bagged seven scalps. Circa 2016 saw Stokes’s rise to world-class, his World T20 final over meltdown with the ball at Eden Gardens notwithstanding.
If Stokes was the gilded part of the auctions, Tahir’s snub had been deflating. The South Africa leggie tops the ICC T20 bowling rankings with 768 points and he became the world’s best ODI bowler as well following his 10 wickets in the recently concluded five-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. Released by the Daredevils before the auction, the 37-year-old’s return to the IPL seemed to be just a matter of time. The day’s proceedings proved otherwise.
Daredevils had been pretty active during early bidding, snapping up South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada for Rs 5 crore, Australia quick Pat Cummins for Rs 4.5 crore and allrounders, Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews and New Zealand’s Corey Anderson, for Rs 2 crore and Rs 1 crore respectively. Maybe, in their search for the elusive success, the franchise has turned to speed this term.

Related Articles
Show More

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Back to top button