12.5 crore Ben Stokes signed by Rajasthan Royals for being their ‘kind of guy’

Ben Stokes was signed by Rajasthan Royals for a price of INR 12.5 crores in the IPL 2018 auction, but he failed to deliver.

English all-rounder Ben Stokes is one of the better all-rounders in the world of cricket. He currently announced his ODI retirement, but he is leading the English test team successfully and will be playing in the T20Is as well for England.

IPL started in 2008, but Stokes made his IPL debut in 2017 for the Pune Supergiants. He was then bought by Rajasthan Royals in 2018, and he played for three seasons for them. He opted out of IPL 2022 season to focus on red-ball cricket by playing in County Championships.

12.5 crore Ben Stokes signed by Rajasthan Royals

During the IPL 2018 auction, Rajasthan Royals broke their bank to sign Ben Stokes. Earlier, Rajasthan Royals used to be the team that used to buy utility players for bargain players, but they spent a lot in the IPL 2018 auction. They bought Stokes for a whopping price of INR 12.5 crores in the auction.

After signing Ben Stokes in 2018, the chief executive of the side, Ranjit Barthakur welcomed Stokes to the side by saying that he is their kind of guy and called him a cricketer of today and future.

“Ben Stokes is just our kind of guy. (He is) a fantastic performer, a cricketer of today and a cricketer of the future,” Ranjit Barthakur wrote on Facebook in 2018.

Ben Stokes is sold to Rajasthan Royals for AUD2.4 million! #IPLAuction pic.twitter.com/5kytYYVjqy

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 27, 2018

Although, Stokes had a very rough reason in 2018 and failed to impress with both bat and the ball. He scored 196 runs in IPL 2018 at an average of 16.33, and he could not score a single half-century in the tournament. With the ball, he scalped 8 wickets at an economy of 8.18.

Stokes made his IPL debut in 2017, and he had a terrific season with the Rising Pune Supergiants. He scored 316 runs in 13 games at an average of 31.60, whereas his S/R was 142.98. These performances of Stokes made the Royals go that high for Stokes, but he failed to deliver.