Top 10 most expensive foreign buys, including an Afghan, in IPL auction 2017
© Ben Stokes Facebook
Ben Stokes became the most expensive foreign player in IPL’s history when Rising Pune Supergiants bought him for a staggering amount of Rs. 14.5 crore in the auction for the 10th edition of the IPL. Mohammad Nabi also created history by becoming the first Afghani player to be bought at the auction.
A prolonged bidding war between Mumbai Indians, Delhi Daredevils, and Sunrisers Hyderabad inflated Ben Stokes’ base price of Rs. 2
Fellow Englishman Tymal Mills, who had impressed on his recent tour of India, was also in the middle of an auction battle between Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bangalore. Eventually, RCB landed their man - their third-biggest signing ever after Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh.
Incidentally, a lot of Afghanistan internationals also featured in the auction but it was all-rounder Mohammad Nabi who became the first Afghani player to be sold at an IPL auction when Sunrisers Hyderabad bought him for his base price of Rs. 30 lakhs. 18-year-old leg-spinner Rashid Khan also joined his compatriot Nabi in the Hyderabad squad after Mumbai pulled out of the bidding war.
Kolkata Knight Riders, as expected, spent their resources in replacing Morne Morkel, who was released, and Andre Russell, who has been banned, with Kiwi quick Trent Boult and English all-rounder Chris Woakes.
After losing out on Stokes and Mills, Delhi Daredevils bought South African pacer Kagiso Rabada and Australian pacer Pat Cummins. Mumbai, on the other hand, landed Mitchell Johnson, who had played for them previously in the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
Top 10 most expensive foreign players bought at the IPL 2017 auction:
1. Ben Stokes (Rising Pune Supergiant) – Rs. 14.5 crore
2. Tymal Mills (Royal Challengers Bangalore) – Rs. 12 crore
3. Trent Boult (Kolkata Knight Riders) – Rs. 5 crore
3. Kagiso Rabada (Delhi Daredevils) – Rs. 5 crore
5. Patrick Cummins (Delhi Daredevils) – Rs. 4.5 crore
6. Chris Woakes (Kolkata Knight Riders) – Rs. 4.2 crore
7. Rashid Khan Arman (Sunrisers Hyderabad) – Rs. 4 crore
8. Nathan Coulter-Nile (Kolkata Knight Riders) – Rs. 3.5 crore
9. Angelo Mathews (Delhi Daredevils) – Rs. 2 crore
9. Eoin Morgan (Kings XI Punjab) – Rs. 2 crore
9. Mitchell Johnson (Mumbai Indians) – Rs. 2 crore
