IPL 2018 auction: Ben Stokes, Mitchell Starc headline huge marquee purchases

NEW DELHI: For the second season running, England’s Ben Stokes found big interest in his all-round services and went to Rajasthan Royals for Rs 12.5 crore - two less than his record price last year but still a huge pay day - after the first set of bidding on day one of the 2018 IPL player auction in Bengaluru.
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The next most valued player was Australian left-arm quick Mitchell Starc, who from a base price of Rs 2 crore fetched a hefty tag of Rs 9.40 crore found a new IPL home with two-time title winners Kolkata Knight Riders.

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From the Indian pool of players, R Ashwin received his fattest IPL paycheque to date, going to Kings XI Punjab for Rs 7.60 crore which means that Chennai Super Kings will be without their most successful bowler ever.
The Right-to-Match (RTM) cards which franchises had to use went into action actively, with Sunrisers Hyderabad buying back Shikhar Dhawan for Rs 5.2 crore, Mumbai Indians the allrounder Kieron Pollard for Rs 5.40 crore, Rajasthan Royals Ajinkya Rahane for Rs 4 crore and Chennai Super Kings Faf du Plessis for Rs 1.6 crore.
Of the marquee players, Chris Gayle (base price Rs 2 crore) was unsold at the end of the first bidding round.