Stokes woke up at 3:30 in the morning to follow IPL auction
English all-rounder Ben Stokes woke up at 3:30 in the morning in England to follow the Indian Premier League auction, which was held on Monday. The English all-rounder was sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for ?14.5 crore, making him the most expensive foreign player sold in any edition of the tournament.
One of the most sought after all-rounders in the world at the moment Ben Stokes landed a multi-crore deal with Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) at the Indian Premier League 2017 player auction in Bengaluru on Monday. (Stokes hits jackpot in historic Indian Premier League player bid)Stokes, who was recently named England's Test vice-captain, said he is having an "incredible week" and it was pretty impressive to see teams warring to buy him at the auction. (AUCTION HIGHLIGHTS)RPS, who made their IPL debut last season, fought off Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Daredevils and defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad to get the 25-year-old, paying a staggering Rs 14.5 crore despite his limited availability for the Twenty20 tournament. (Stokes a match-winner, we had to buy him: Pune owner Sanjiv Goenka to India Today)"It's been a pretty incredible week and, considering you normally have your most exciting times when you're playing, it's been an amazing and interesting few days," Stokes was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo."I set my alarm for 3.30am, got up and waited about 40 minutes for my turn in the auction. I was anxious, not really knowing what would happen."I was following it on Twitter, I didn't actually see it live. I kept on refreshing my notifications, I saw people were tweeting and then I realised that Pune had got me." (IPL 2017: How the teams stack up after the auction)WATCH FULL VIDEO HERE'LIFE CHANGING'Stokes will miss the final phase of the April 5-May 21 IPL as England are scheduled to host South Africa in a one-day international series starting May 24.However, Stokes wants to live up to his billing and is eager to "deliver" at the cash-rich T20 league.