IPL 2017 auction: After bagging historic deal, Ben Stokes excited to be joining Rising Pune Supergiants' camp

Bengaluru: English all-rounder Ben Stokes left everybody stunned as franchises got into an intense bidding war to sign him ahead of the tenth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The dynamic left-handed batsman, who impressed everybody with his all-round performances in the recently concluded limited-overs series against India, was in every franchise owner's mind at the auction.

The think tank of the eight franchises could not stop smiling the moment his name was announced by auctioneer Richard Madley. Despite not having too much money in their kitty, the franchises dug deep into their pockets and it was Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS), who finally signed him for a whopping Rs 14.5 crore.

The 25-year-old took to Twitter to share his excitement about playing in his maiden IPL season.

"Really excited to be joining up with @punesupergiants in the @iplt20 this year,always looks a amazing competition and can't wait for the experience #risingpunesupergiants," he tweeted.

Really excited to be joining up with punesupergiants in the iplt20 this year,always looks a… https://t.co/IG8mmvv2a5

— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) February 20, 2017

Earlier, new RPS skipper Steve Smith welcomed Stokes to the squad by congratulating him on Twitter.

With the historic deal, Stokes became the costliest overseas player in the history of IPL.

Stokes' compatriot Tymal Mills, who is a T20 specialist, was the second costliest player at the auction after Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) bought him for Rs 12 crore.