There was hype around Stokes even months before the auction and as expected, his hype lived up to the expectation. Supergiant had the last laugh and roped Stokes in for an astonishing amount of ₹ 14.5 crore, which was 3/4th of their entire purse.

The IPL 2017 auction is done and dusted. All the eight franchises have got their squads ready for the next edition of the IPL, which will kick-start from April 5, 2017 later this year. The eight teams collectively spent just a little above ₹ 91 crore to fetch 66 players for their respective sides from a pool of 351 cricketers from India and all round the world. But there was just one player, who hogged all the limelight – it was none other than Ben Stokes!

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There was hype around Stokes even months before the auction and as expected, his hype lived up to the expectation. Stokes was one of the first players to go under the hammer on Monday in Bengaluru and four teams fought for the English all-rounder – Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Daredevils, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rising Pune Supergiant.

At the end, Supergiant had the last laugh and roped Stokes in for an astonishing amount of ₹ 14.5 crore, which was 3/4th of their entire purse. Even the Three Lions player was left stunned as he said that he did not really think that he would draw this much of an attention. We are definitely looking forward to seeing Stokes lighting up the IPL 2017.

Until then, here are some amazing facts about Ben Stokes that you might not know:

  1. He was born in New Zealand and was raised in Christchurch, Canterbury until he was 12, when his father Gerard Stokes moved to England.

  1. Stokes’ father was a renowned former Rugby player and also the coach of the New Zealand Rugby team.

  1. Stokes had a mystery benefactor – Gerard had lost his job when Ben was only 13. He was indeed a raw talent and he was identified by this benefactor and was offered coaching. The identity of this benefactor is only known to Ben and his family.

  1. He has been hailed by two of the most iconic all-rounders of England cricket – Ian Botham and Andrew Flintoff.

  1. Stokes’ favourite batsman is Kevin Pietersen and his favourite bowler is Dale Steyn.