For once, the IPL 2017 auction predictions (ok, ok, one prediction) went right.
IPL 2017 auction live blog and updates
Ben Stokes was tipped to be one of the most sought-after players and sought after he proved to be as the Englishman went for an eye-watering fee to the Rising Pune Supergiant, who fought off competition from the Mumbai Indians, RCB, Delhi Daredevils and SRH.
The paddles were raised by both Mumbai Indians and RCB even before the auctioneer Richard Madley had called for the bids once it became clear it was Stokes' name that came out of the hat.
Once RCB decided not to go beyond Rs 4 crore, the Delhi Daredevils came in for Stokes, competing for the all-rounder's signature with MI.
It went up and up and up and as the price for Stokes, probably sitting with a gleeful smile on his face in front of his sofa, early in the morning back in England, went all the way up to Rs 10.5 crore, well past last year's highest buy – Shane Watson, who went for Rs 9.5 crore.
Then, when MI looked to have dropped out, in came the IPL champions Sunrisers Hyderabad, with a heavyweight delegation of VVS Laxman, Muttiah Muralitharan and Tom Moody sitting at the table.
Thanks to SRH coming in, Stokes' value went up to Rs 13 crore, and after much deliberation in the Delhi Dardevils camp, they decided to pull out.
SRH were sitting pretty with a Rs 13 crore bid, and just when everyone thought they had the all-rounder, in came RPS with a raise of the paddle of their own, pushing the price up to Rs 14.5 crore (around $2.16 million), at which point, the Sunrisers said enough, giving the player to MS Dhoni's, well Steve Smith's now, Rising Pune Supergiant (they have decided to drop the S from Supergiants).
The other four teams that made bids for Stokes might regret not going the extra mile, because, even at that amount, the all-rounder could end up being a potentially title winning buy for RPS.
There was another Englishman smiling all the way to bank as well after the IPL 2017 player auction, with the fast bowler Tymal Mills going for Rs 12 crore (around $17.9 million) to RCB.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore beat out competition from the Mumbai Indians, Kings XI Punjab and KKR to get the left-arm fast bowler, who impressed for England in the recent limited-overs series against India.
