Been an all-format player for England by then, all-rounder Ben Stokes celebrated becoming a millionaire in what was his maiden Indian Premier League auction by buying a lavish home in Durham. As if Stokes was waiting for such a high-cost deal, he opted to spend his entire IPL contract amount on the same six years ago.
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Stokes, who had registered himself in the auction at a base price of INR 2 crore, fetched a lot of interest as was on the expected lines. Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals (then Daredevils), Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rising Pune Supergiants were all after him. In the end, Pune acquired his services at a whopping price of INR 14.5 crore (around £1.7 million) in February 2017.
“He’s a complete player. He completes our squad. We’ve been lacking this genre of player. We have many heroes, but this is one hero we were lacking. We knew he was going to go expensive,” Sanjeev Goenka, owner of Supergiants, had said after buying Stokes.
Stokes was the most expensive player of the auction that year. It has to be said that he repaid the faith by his performances throughout the season. Stokes scored 316 runs in 12 matches at a strike rate of 142.98 where 103* was his highest score. As a bowler, he scalped 12 wickets at an economy of 7.18.
When Ben Stokes Spent £1.7 Million On Lavish Durham Home
Stokes, who plays county cricket for Durham, perhaps saw it as a perfect opportunity to buy a house there itself. It is a five-bedroom home which is made on a 2.2-acre property. There are all the luxurious amenities with a spiral staircase and stone flooring. The mansion even has a triple garage with a one-bedroom self-contained apartment above it, that has its own living room and shower room.
The dining area has a breakfast bar along with a lounge sitting area. There are two large sofas as well in the living room for comfortable sitting during entertainment sessions. Presumably delighted at buying such a luxurious home, Stokes even thanked his property agent for helping him throughout on social media platform Twitter.
Who Was The Previous Owner Of Ben Stokes’ Durham Home?
Readers must note that Stokes had purchased the property from former footballer Adam Johnson. Having played for teams such as Manchester City, Sunderland, etc. in the past, Johnson had put the house on sale for a price of £1.85 million. Stokes, however, got it at a discounted price of £1.7 million. It was exactly the same amount that Stokes earned from his IPL 2017 stint.
Johnson was sentenced to prison for six years and that’s why he decided to sell his house on an urgent basis. With him not being able to appeal against the verdict by the court, the urgency resulted in a discount for Stokes.
For the unversed, Johnson was guilty of engaging in a s*xual activity with a 15-year-old female fan. The former footballer used to live in the Durham home with his ex-girlfriend and daughter named Ayla. He had bought the home for £1.57 million in 2012.
