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Stokes and Mills in shock after 'life-changing' IPL auction,Followed the Auction at 3.30Am in UK

Malcolm Merlyn

By Malcolm Merlyn
in Cricket Talk

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Malcolm Merlyn Proficient

Malcolm Merlyn

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Ben Stokes and Tymal Mills both believe that their lives have been changed overnight, after being signed for record-breaking fees by Rising Pune Supergiants and Royal Challengers Bangalore respectively during a dramatic day's bidding at the IPL auction.

 

Mills, who feared his career was over two years ago when he was diagnosed with a congenital back condition, has instead been catapulted to T20 stardom after attracting a bid of INR 12 crore (USD 1.8 million), the most ever paid to a specialist bowler, and a remarkable 24 times his base price of USD 74,000.

 

Stokes, meanwhile, sent the franchises into a more anticipated frenzy, having been earmarked as one of the marquee players in this year's auction. Nevertheless, his eventual fee was still a eye-popping 14.5 crore (USD 2.16 million), the most ever paid to an overseas signing. It completed an eventful few days for the Durham allrounder, who was last week named as vice-captain to Joe Root in England's Test side.

 

"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 said.

"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."

 

It took Stokes a while to comprehend exactly what had happened in the bidding process, given that the auction had been conducted in rupees and that Pune had swooped in late to stave off strong interest from several other franchises, most notably Delhi Daredevils and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

 

"I wasn't sure how much a Crore was, people were retweeting stuff, it was complete carnage," he said. "I still haven't seen the footage.

 

"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.

"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."

"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'm struggling to put it into words.

"It has all been a bit hectic and I haven't had much time to think about it. I'm just seriously excited about getting going."

 

The story of Mills' signing was even more remarkable, however, given that he had entered the auction with more hope than expectation in his first season as a full-time T20 specialist.

 

With his back condition forcing his retirement from first-class cricket, Mills' only real ambition had been to secure some employment between now and the start of Sussex's NatWest T20 Blast campaign in the English season.

 

"I can't believe it. I can't put into words what happened," he said. "I did not see this coming and it took a while for it to sink in. It has been a crazy day.

 

"I was the lowest of the base prices because I just wanted to get picked up by a team. I didn't want to wait until July for my next cricket.

 

"My agent had spoken to some of the teams and there had been some interest but until it happens you just don't know what will happen."

 

Fortunately for Mills, he made a fine impression during England's three-match T20 series against India last month - not least, it would appear, on India's captain, Virat Kohli, under whom Mills will now be playing at RCB next month.

 

"When my name came up I was nervous, giddy and jumpy," Mills said. "I was on Facetime with my best mate and he just kept shouting.

 

"The bidding was quite slow but once it hit 10 Crore I knew it was big money, but it kept going.

 

"When it finished I did not know how much it was worth. When I worked it out I could not believe it, it did not seem real. It's an amount of money that can change your life. It will for me.

 

"I went for breakfast with Luke Wright after watching the auction and he said the back injury might have been the best thing that ever happened to me. It was sad at the time, being 22 and having to think about retiring from the game, but being able to focus on T20 has accelerated my development.

 

"This is my first winter on the T20 circuit. I've played in the Big Bash, have the IPL coming up and am looking forward to playing with the Sussex lads in the Blast this summer too.

 

"It's been fun. I've travelled the world and met some cool people. I'm grateful."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/indian-premier-league-2017/content/story/1083536.html

Cricketics Rising Star

Cricketics

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5 minutes ago, Vilander said:

Wtf riddiculous what value does this stokes bring in lol.

Seriosuly for 14 cr I will buy only few players in the world right now if they were in auction. Those exceptional players are - Gayle, ABD. They actually deserve that much for the kind of impact they have on the 2020 game. 

 

 

YCCC Rookie

YCCC

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26 minutes ago, Malcolm Merlyn said:

can he buy a house in London with that amount?

Just about but he won't get much change out of it. Don't think he'd be too popular with his fans in the north east if he did mind!

YCCC Rookie

YCCC

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54 minutes ago, Malcolm Merlyn said:

 

No Yorkshire men in IPL this year?

I don't think we've ever had one in any year! Jonny put his name in the hat but was never going to get picked. Our T20 record is diabolical, period, even when Jonny and Joe play for us. Our run to the semis last year was complete fluke and i still don't know how we managed it! We got to the final in 2012 but had David Miller and Starc carrying us.

Edited by YCCC
Pollack Mentor

Pollack

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5 minutes ago, YCCC said:

I don't think we've ever had one in any year! Jonny put his name in the hat but was never going to get picked.

Base price of 1.5 crore.Lol.

G_B_ Grand Master

G_B_

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The problem with Bairstow is that he seems to get overshadowed even when he performs well. IPL i feel is as much about perception as it is about anything else.

 

His strategy also did not make sense. 2 crore base price hmm should have gone in with 50 lakh. . Was actually one of the few English bats I thought did rather well on spinning decks.

 

In the case of Hales I guess his hand was broken and nobody wanted to risk punting on him.

MCcricket Apprentice

MCcricket

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6 hours ago, Cricketics said:

Soon like how DD realized after buying Yuvi for massive amount few years back, Pune will realize how dumb they were to spend so much on tool like Stokes. 

Stokes n Yuvi are completely different scenarios, first Yuvi was out of form starting his career again post cancer n couldn't play decently also Stokes is a great fielder, fantastic hitter n wkt taking option as a bowler plus he will!L get eyeballs n revenue thru sponsors.

STOKES is equal to buying a world class batter in T20 n a genuine pacer so yes maybe a bit over the top but not a Yuvi kinda buy, also his selection helps the sides pick more foreign players as he does that as being a allrounder n a genuine one at that.

I will watch closely him n Woakes , also think Woakes might be as good as Stokes in T20 as he is a better bowler by slight margin n can certainly bat.

Now the big issue is how many games will they play n I guess they will be there till the qualifiers are completed .

Cricketics Rising Star

Cricketics

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9 minutes ago, MCcricket said:

Stokes n Yuvi are completely different scenarios, first Yuvi was out of form starting his career again post cancer n couldn't play decently also Stokes is a great fielder, fantastic hitter n wkt taking option as a bowler plus he will!L get eyeballs n revenue thru sponsors.

STOKES is equal to buying a world class batter in T20 n a genuine pacer so yes maybe a bit over the top but not a Yuvi kinda buy, also his selection helps the sides pick more foreign players as he does that as being a allrounder n a genuine one at that.

I will watch closely him n Woakes , also think Woakes might be as good as Stokes in T20 as he is a better bowler by slight margin n can certainly bat.

Now the big issue is how many games will they play n I guess they will be there till the qualifiers are completed .

They will be there most likely till 2nd week of may,

 

I want to see how Stokes does against quality spin bowling which will be on display. He is surely good but not as good as 14cr buy I feel.

 

You mentioned his bowling. His bowling is pretty bad. And that is where I feel how much is Pune planning to make out of him?

 

I don't see him completing his four overs every time. In fact some Indian bowlers would bowl better than him.

 

So now the question-  if his bowling won't work that well, will his batting alone keep him in the playing x1 of Pune? This is where I feel that his batting isn't special with which he can dictate things and get on top of the bowlers.

 

He is not like one of those overrseas batters who can dominate the bowler like - Guptill, McCullum, Jason Roy, Gayle, ABD Villers.

 

If he fails with the bat, I doubt he will be able to keep his place in the Pune team

just as a bowler.

 

Mitchell Marsh, who sucks in other formats will actually do better than him for Pune I feel. He is someone who can dominate the bowling in twenty20 from ball 1 as compared to Stokes. 

 

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