Stokes stunned by 'life-changing' IPL jackpot

The big-hitting Stokes struggled to keep track of the bidding process and was in a state of shock after Pune finally got its man.

Published : Feb 21, 2017 01:28 IST

England all-rounder Ben Stokes was snapped up by Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 14.5 crore.
England all-rounder Ben Stokes was snapped up by Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 14.5 crore.
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England all-rounder Ben Stokes was snapped up by Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs. 14.5 crore.

Ben Stokes has spoken of the "carnage" he experienced during the Indian Premier League auction which resulted in the England all-rounder being snapped up for a "life-changing" record fee.

England's new Test vice-captain will showcase his talents for Rising Pune Supergiants this year after it paid an eye-watering INR 14.5 crore (£1.7million) to land him on Monday.

That made Stokes the most expensive overseas player to feature in the Twenty20 tournament, with only Yuvraj Singh having been purchased for a higher fee when Delhi Daredevils forked out INR 16 crore (£1.9m) to sign the India stalwart two years ago.

The big-hitting Stokes struggled to keep track of the bidding process and was in a state of shock after Pune finally got its man.

He told ecb.co.uk : "I'm struggling to put it into words but it's a life-changing amount of money.

"I can't really say more than that. I'm really thankful and grateful for how it went this morning.

"I set my alarm for 03:30, got up and waited about 40 minutes for my turn in the auction, I was anxious not really knowing what would happen.

"I didn't actually see the auction live, I was following it on Twitter. It was hard to follow. I wasn't sure how much a crore was, people were retweeting stuff – it was complete carnage. I still haven't seen the footage.

"I kept on refreshing my notifications, I saw people were tweeting and then I realised that Pune had got me. I hadn't thought about how much I would go for, I guess having more than one team wanting me was probably the best position to be in."

Stokes, who will be playing in the IPL for the first time when the tournament starts in April, added: "I just wanted to get picked up and play. I haven't been able to play in the past so that was the main thing, anything else was just a bonus. I'm looking forward to getting out there and getting involved.

"Seven times my base amount – that's mental and it hasn't sunk in yet, but pretty cool to think about I guess.

"Hopefully I'll live up to it, win a few games and deliver on what they've paid for me. I'm just seriously excited about getting going."

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