RPS buys Ben Stokes for a whopping Rs. 14.5 crore; K. Gowtham of Mysuru Warriors sold to MI for Rs. 2 cr

Bengaluru, Feb. 20- Ben Stokes of England became the most expensive overseas acquisition in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) as Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) bought him for a whopping Rs. 14.5 crore during the IPL-10 auction being held at a private hotel here  this morning.

In an intensely-contested bidding that was kick-started by two heavyweights Mumbai Indians (MI) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), the Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Daredevils also entered the bidding process but none of the four teams could match up to the valuation of RPS. Stokes also became the second-most expensive buy in IPL after Yuvraj Singh for Rs. 16 crore in IPL-2015.

England’s Chris Woakes was snapped up by Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs. 4.2 crore while Rashid Khan Arman became the highest bid Afghanistan player as Sunrisers Hyderabad bought him for Rs. 4 crore. South African Kagiso Rabada was taken by Delhi Daredevils for Rs. 5 crore. Meanwhile, Karn Sharma became the highest Indian player to be bid in the auction till now as he was picked up by Mumbai Indians for Rs. 3.2 crore.

K. Gowtham, the Karnataka all-rounder, who plays for the Mysuru-based franchise Mysuru Warriors in the Karnataka Premiere League (KPL),was sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs. 2 crore. Mohammad Nabi created history by becoming the first Afghanistan player to be picked in IPL. He was sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for a base price of Rs. 30 lakh.

The bidding was still on when we went to the press.

Players bought during auction

Delhi Daredevils: Angelo Mathews (Rs. 2 cr.), Corey Anderson (Rs. 1 cr.), Kagiso Rabada (Rs.5 cr.), Pat Cummins (Rs. 4.50 cr.), Ankit Bawne (Rs. 10 lakh), Aditya Tare (Rs. 25 lakh), Murugan Ashwin (Rs. 1 cr).

Gujarat Lions: Nathu Singh (Rs. 50 lakh), Basil Thampy (Rs. 85 lakh), Tejas Singh Baroka (Rs. 10 lakh), Manpreet Gony (Rs. 60 lakh).

Kings XI Punjab: Eoin Morgan (Rs. 2 cr.), Rahul Tewatia (Rs.25 lakh), T. Natarajan (Rs. 3 cr.), Matt Henry (Rs. 50 lakh), Varun Aaron (Rs. 2.80 cr.).

Kolkata Knight Riders: Trent Boult (Rs. 5 cr.), Chris Woakes (Rs. 4.20 cr.), Rishi Dhawan (Rs. 55 lakh).

Mumbai Indians: Nicholas Pooran (Rs.30 lakh), Mitchell Johnson (Rs. 2 cr.), K. Gowtham (Rs. 2 cr.), Karn Sharma (Rs. 3.2 cr.).

Rising Pune Supergiants: Ben Stokes (Rs. 14.50 cr.), Jaydev Unadkat (Rs. 30 lakh).

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Pawan Negi (Rs. 1 cr.), Tymal Mills (12 cr.), Aniket Choudhary (Rs. 2 cr.).

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Tanmay Agarwal (Rs.10 lakh), Mohammad Nabi (Rs.30 lakh), Ekalavya Dwivedi (Rs.75 lakh), Rashid Khan (Rs.4 cr.), Pravin Tambe (Rs.10 lakh).