England’s Ben Stokes could earn “millions” when he enters the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, says Yuvraj Singh.
Benjamin Andrew Stokes or Ben Stokes is an English cricketer who has got an outstanding cricket career to prove himself as the most valuable player in the upcoming IPL. Yuvraj (35) was up against Stokes (25) in the recent ODI and T20 series between India and England and has enjoyed watching him close up.
Going by a report in BBC, Yuvraj said that Stokes was a quality hitter, fast bowler and fielder and if guys like him came and played in the IPL, it would improve their skill. The more these kind of players play in different conditions, the better they will become technically.
Yuvraj also admitted that Indian players always enjoyed bantering with the English players on the field and Yuvraj himself has seen how Ben and Virat Kohli used to go at each other on the field. However, England players bought at this weekend’s IPL auction will be docked around £3,500 per day of their England salary to play in India.
Stokes, who is on a central contract will be deducted 0.5% of his central contract for everyday he is on IPL duty, which will cost him more than £100,000. England director Andrew Strauss is encouraging players to play in the competition.
In the IPL auction in Bengaluru, Stokes will be undoubtedly the biggest draw and will start at a base price of £238,000. His price could rocket if he becomes the subject of a bidding war between franchises and if not and he is taken for his base price then Stokes is going to lose more than half of his IPL money to ECB tax and agent fee.
The IPL auction was scheduled to be held in Bengaluru on Saturday. But reports suggest that the auction day will be delayed and it can take place in the third week of February. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is yet to confirm the auction date. The upcoming IPL tournament is scheduled to be held from April 5 to May 21.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times)