Vice-captain Stokes lands huge IPL deal

Ben Stokes will earn £1.7 million at this year’s Indian Premier League after Rising Pune Supergiants made him the tournament’s record overseas signing.

The 25-year-old England allrounder was expected to be the hottest property at the glitzy auction in Bangalore, and so it proved as his price soared.

Stokes’ value was confirmed in the first round of the auction shortly before England’s Twenty20 specialist fast bowler Tymal Mills was sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for £1.4m.

Exactly a week after discovering he will be England’s new Test vice-captain, a substantially more lucrative deal was therefore waiting for Stokes on the breakfast table in Durham yesterday morning.

He will be joined at the IPL in April and May by his England limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan, snapped up by Kings XI Punjab for £240,000, and their international team-mate Chris Woakes who fetched around £500,000 and will play for Kolkata Knight Riders.