IPL Auction 2017: Stokes, Mills bag big bucks, Ishant remains unsold

Ben Stokes and Tymal Mills turned out to be the hottest purchases at the IPL auction 2017, which also saw No. 1-ranked T20I bowler Imran Tahir and India pacer Ishant Sharma failing to find any takers

English cricketers led by all-rounder Ben Stokes and pacer Tymal Mills turned out to be the hottest purchases at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction here on Monday, which also saw No. 1-ranked T20 International bowler Imran Tahir and India pacer Ishant Sharma failing to find any takers.

Rising Pune Supergiants (RPSG), who removed Mahendra Singh Dhoni from captaincy on Sunday, bought Stokes for a whopping Rs 14.50 crore after defeating bids from Mumbai Indians, Delhi Daredevils (DD), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

"This is a conscious strategy, we wanted an all-rounder on the team," RPSG owner Sanjeev Goenka said.

Promising pacer Mills also emerged another hot property, with the RCB finally managing to lay their hands on him for a whopping Rs 12 crore.

Interestingly, Stokes' limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan was taken at a base price of Rs 2 crore by Kings XI Punjab while all-rounder Chris Woakes was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for Rs 4 crore.

But the surprise of the morning session was 18-year-old leg-spinner Rashid Khan and all-rounder Mohammed Nabi being bought by defending champions SRH, making them the first Afghanistan cricketers to be bought by an IPL franchise.

While Rashid was snapped up for a whopping Rs 4 crore, Nabi went for Rs 30 lakh. Afghanistan captain Asghar Stanikzai, however, joined the likes of India's Ishant Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Pragyan Ozha, South African Imran Tahir, West Indians Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels, to remain unsold.

The afternoon session saw Australians Nathan Coulter Nile, Daniel Christian, Hyderabad's Mohammed Siraj and England's Jason Roy bagging lucrative deals from franchises.

After being left out in the morning session, Coulter Nile emerged the hottest pick at a whopping Rs 3.5 crore for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) while 22-year-old medium pacer Siraj turned out to be the surprise package going for Rs 2.6 crore to the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

New Zealand's swashbuckling opener Martin Guptill, who surprisingly failed to find any takers in the morning session went for Rs 50 lakh to Kings XI Punjab while England's Chris Jordan went to SRH for the same price.

Railways' leggie Karn Sharma was bought by the Mumbai Indians for a whopping Rs 3.2 crore while Jharkhand pacer Varun Aaron went to the KXIP for Rs 2.8 crore.

Rising Pune Supergiants (RPSG) doled out for Rs 1 crore for all-rounder Christian and Gujarat Lions paid the same price for English opening batsman Roy.

Among others, Delhi Daredevils won a competitive bidding war with Kings XI Punjab, to invest Rs 5 crore in South African pacer Kasigo Rabada while New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult also was picked up for Rs 5 crore by KKR. Mumbai Indians bought retired Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson for Rs 2 crore.

Australian pacer Pat Cummins was also bought by the Delhi Daredevils for a whopping Rs 4.5 crore along with Tamil Nadu spinner M. Ashwin for Rs 1 crore. Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Matthews also went to Delhi Daredevils for Rs 2 crore along with New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson for Rs 1 crore.

Pune bagged Bengal batsman Manoj Tiwary for Rs 50 lakh while West Indian batsman Darren Bravo also succeeded to attract KKR for his base price of Rs 50 lakh.

Discarded India pacer Munaf Patel went to his home franchise Gujarat Lions for Rs 30 lakh while former West Indian skipper Darren Sammy was picked by KXIP for Rs 30 lakh.

Mumbai Indians invested Rs 30 lakh each in Jharkhand batsman Saurabh Tiwary and Sri Lankan 31-year-old batsman Asela Gunaratne. Hyderabad too spent Rs 30 lakh for Australian Ben Laughlin while Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) put an equal amount on Aussie fast bowler Billy Stanlake.

West Indian stumper Nicholas Pooran was taken by Mumbai Indians for Rs 30 lakh while Gujarat bought pacer Manpreet Gony for Rs 60 lakh.

Among the uncapped domestic players, Tamil Nadu left-arm pacer T. Natarajan emerged one of the biggest gainers -- he was sold for Rs 3 crore to Kings XI Punjab, which is 30 times his base price of Rs 10 lakh.

Rookie Karnataka spinner Krishnappa Gowtham and Rajasthan medium pacer Aniket Choudhary were sold for 20 times their base price of Rs 10 lakh. While Gowtham was bought by the Mumbai Indians, Choudhary went to RCB for Rs 2 crore.

Kerala medium pacer Basil Thampy went to Gujarat Lions for Rs 85 lakh after Rising Pune Supergiants left the bid. His base price was at Rs 10 lakh. The Gujarat franchise also roped in Rajasthan pacer Nathu Singh for Rs 50 lakh.

Uttar Pradesh wicketkeeper Eklavya Dwivedi and veteran Mumbai leggie Pravin Tambe went to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 75 lakh and Rs 10 lakh respectively, while Haryana southpaw Rahul Tewatia was sold to Kings XI Punjab for Rs 25 lakh.

Mumbai stumper-batsman Aditya Tare and Maharashtra middle order batsman Ankeet Bawane were bought by Delhi Daredevils for Rs 25 lakh and Rs 10 lakh respectively.

All-rounder Pawan Negi, who rose to fame for being the costliest domestic player last season at Rs 8.5 crore, was bought by RCB for a mere Rs 1 crore, thanks to his disastrous campaign for DD in 2016.

Meanwhile, Indian Test stars Ishant and Pujara joined some of the big names, including Tahir to remain unsold.

Among the other notables are India's Irfan Pathan, Unmukt Chand, Pragyan Ojha, Manvinder Bisla, Parvez Rasool and Abu Nechim Ahmed, Sri Lanka's Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Perara, Aussie Brad Hodge, South African Kyle Abbot, Kiwis Ross Taylor and Ish Sodhi, West Indians Samuels, Jason Holder and Johnson Charles.

- IANS

IPL auction 2017 live updates:

England's star all-rounder Ben Stokes sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for a whopping Rs 14.5 crore.

Martin Guptill sold to Kings XI Punjab for Rs 50 lakhs.

England's Jason Roy sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs 1 crore.

India's Saurabh Tiwary sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs 30 lakhs.

Chris Jordan sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 50 lakhs.

To much surprise, Indian veteran pacer Ishant Sharma remained unsold.

Australian cricketer Nathan Coulter-Nile sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 3.5 crore.

Praveen Dubey sold to RCB for Rs 10 lakhs.

Navdeep Saini is sold to Delhi for Rs 10 lakhs.

Mitchell Johnson is sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs 2 crore.

Indian spinners Pragyan Ojha goes unsold.

English cricketer Tymal Mills sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 12 crore.

Pat Cummins sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs 4.5 core.

England cricketer Chris Woakes joins Kolkata Knight Rides for Rs 4.2 crore..

Trent Boult joins Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 5 crore.

Ben Laughlin sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 30 lakhs.

Darren Sammy sold to KXIP for Rs 20 lakhs.

Billy Stanlake is sold to RCB for Rs 30 lakhs.

Mohammed Siraj is sold to Hyderabad for Rs 2.6 crore.

Rahul Chahar and Saurabh Kumar sold to Pune for Rs 10 lakhs each.

Asela Gunarathna is sold to Mumbai Indians for INR 30 lakhs.

Daniel Christian was sold to Pune Supergiants for Rs 1 crore.

Rovman Powell sold to KKR for Rs 30 lakhs.

Munaf Patel is sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs 30 lakhs

Australia's star spinner Nathan Lyon and South African pacer Kyle Abbott remains unsold.

Mohammad Nabi creates history to become the first Afghan player in IPL as he joins Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 30 lakhs.

Afghan cricketer Rashid Khan Arman also entered history books to become the highest paid Afghan cricketer in IPL as he was sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for whopping Rs 4 crore.

South African pacer Kagiso Rabada sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs 5 crore.

Indian players Cheteshwar Pujara, Abhinav Mukund and Manoj Tiwary go unsold.

Sri Lankan Dinesh Chandimal remain unsold.

Rishi Arothe and Ronsford Beaton remain unsold.

Windies keeper Andre Fletcher and opener Johnson Charles go unsold.

Mumbai Indians bag Nicholas Pooran for Rs 30 lakhs.

Jonny Bairstow and Ben Dunk remain unsold.

Kiwi all-rounder Corey Anderson sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs 1 crore.

Australian player Sean Abbott goes unsold.

Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan goes unsold.

Indian all-rounder Pawan Negi is sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 1 crore. First Indian player to be purchased at the IPL 2017 auction.

Sri Lanka's star Angelo Mathews sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs 2 crore.

Manoj Tiwary sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs 50 lakhs.

Darren Bravo sold to KKR for Rs 50 lakhs.

Aksh Deep Nath is sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs 10 lakhs.

Lockie Ferguson is sold to Supergiants for Rs 50 lakhs.

Sayan Ghosh is sold to KKR for Rs 10 lakhs.

England's Alex Hales and Kiwi Ross Taylor go unsold.

England batsman Eoin Morgan is sold to Kings XI Punjab for Rs 2 crore. Frist player to be purchased.

Indian player Faiz Fazal also go unsold.

Indian cricketer Aniket Choudhary is sold to RCB for Rs 2 crore.

Another Indian budding cricketer T Natarajan was sold to Kings XI Punjab for Rs 3 crore.

Shelly Shaurya and Shubham Agarwal sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs 10 lakhs each.

Manvinder Bisla, Mohit Ahlawat, Abu Nechim Ahmed remain unsold.

Indian pacer Varun Aaron sold to Kings XI Punjab for Rs 2.8 crore while Jaydev Unadkat joins Rising Pune Supergiant for Rs 30 lakhs.

Brad Haddin and Kusal Perera go unsold.

Anamul Haque, Shane Dowrich, Glenn Phillips and Niroshan Dickwella remain unsold.

Basil Thampy is sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs 85 lakhs.

Rinku Singh is sold to Punjab for Rs 10 lakhs.

Shashank Singh sold to Delhi for INR 10 lakhs.

Milind Tandon is sold to Pune Supergiants for Rs 10 lakhs.

Pawan Suyal remain unsold.

Afghan Mohammad Shahzad goes unsold.

Indian player Eklavya Dwivedi sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 75 lakhs.

Karn Sharma bagged by Mumbai Indians for Rs 3.2 crore.

Rishi Dhawan sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 55 lakhs.

Sri Lanka's Thisara Perera and Proteas player David Wiese remain unsold.

Aditya Tare is sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs 25 lakhs.

Spinner Pravin Tambe sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 10 lakhs.

Windies all-rounder Jason Holder remains unsold.

Aussie Mitchell Swepson and Indian Akshay Wakhare remain unsold.

Indian player Tanmay Agarwal sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 10 lakhs. Ankeet Bawane is sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs. 10 lakhs.

Krishnappa Gowtham sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs 2 crore.

Rahul Tewatia sold to Kings XI Punjab for Rs 25 lakhs.

Ashwin M sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs 1 crore.

Chirag Suri is sold to Gujarat for Rs 10 lakhs.

Tejas Baroka is sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs 10 lakhs.

IPL star RP Singh remains unsold for the IPL 2017 auction.

Indian spinner Parveez Rasool remains unsold.

West Indies batsman Darren Bravo goes unsold.

Australian Nick Maddinson goes unsold.

Mayank Dagar and Sarabjeet Ladda remain unsold.

Praveen Dubey, Shivam Dubey, Manan Sharma, Priyank Panchal, Rush Kalaria, Vishnu Vinod and Shreevats Goswami go unsold.

Star cricketer Unmukt Chand goes unsold.

Aksh Deep Nath and Mahipal Lomror remain unsold.

Afghan cricketer Asghar Stanikzai remains unsold.

Mumbai batsman Prithvi Shaw goes unsold. Umang Sharma as well meets the same fate.

Indian S Badrinath remains unsold.

West Indies cricketers Marlon Samuels and Evin Lewis go unsold.

Matt Henry sold to Kings XI Punjab for Rs 50 lakhs.

Kulwant K is sold to Mumbai for Rs 10 lakhs.

Sanjay Yadav and Ishank Jaggi sold to KKR for INR 10 lakhs each.

Rahul Tripathi sold to Pune for Rs 10 lakhs.

Pankaj Singh remain unsold.

Aussie Michael Klinger goes unsold.

Manpreet Gony sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs 60 lakhs. Fawad Ahmed, Akila Dananjaya and Michael Beer go unsold.

A total of 351 cricketers are up for grabs. From the IPL auction 2017 players list 226 are Indian cricketers while 125 are overseas players.

A list of new marquee players will be up for auction this season. There is a total of 62 batsmen, 117 bowlers, 30 wicket-keepers and 150 all-rounders for the IPL auction.

There is a total of 7 marquee players that reserve the highest base price at Rs 2 crore. They are namely Ishant Sharma, Ben Stokes, Mitchell Johnson, Angelo Mathews, Chris Woakes and Pat Cummins.

IPL auctioneer Richard Madley is hosting his 10th IPL auction.