IPL 2017 auction: England's Ben Stokes, Tymal Mills acquired in big money buys, Ishant Sharma unsold

The 2017 Indian Premier League (IPL) auction kicked off in Bengaluru, India, on 20 February with the main talking point being Rising Pune Supergiants' signing of England all-rounder Ben Stokes for Rs 145m (£1.73m, $2.16m), making him the most expensive foreign player of all time.

Stokes — who had a base price of Rs 20m (£240,000, $300,000) — left Pune with just Rs 30m (£361,500, $451,000). However, franchise owner Sajeev Goenka was satisfied with the deal.

"I think Ben Stokes is a complete player and he completes our squad," he said as quoted on Times of India. "We have many heroes in our squad but we lacked one hero. Ben Stokes can fill that position."

"We are aware that Ben will be available for the first 14 games. At this moment our focus is only on the first 14 games. We worked out a strategy and we knew we wouldn't have got Ben for a lesser price. We had earmarked a set of price for each player and we are happy."

Stokes's fellow English teammate Tymal Mills was snatched by Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 120m (£1.43m, $1.79m). Mills is likely to replace Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who parted ways with the franchise because of his heavy workload.

The biggest move made by the Kolkata Knight Riders was for New Zealand paceman Trent Boult, signed for Rs 50m (£590,000, $745,000), making him the third most expensive player of the auction.

Australian Mitchell Johnson was sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs 20m (£240,000, $300,000) while fellow national teammate Pat Cummins was sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs 45m (£541,000, $676,000).

Meanwhile, Afghanistan's Mohammad Nabi made history, becoming the first Afghan player in the IPL after he joined Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 3m (£35,800, $44,700). Rashid Khan followed Nabi to the Hyderabad franchise for a whopping Rs 40m (£478,700, $596,600) as the only two Afghans in the league.

Some big names remained unsold as well such as the likes of Indian veteran Ishant Sharma, South Africa's Imran Tahir and England's Jonny Bairstow.

In total, there were 66 players sold with 29 of them coming from overseas. The 10th edition of the IPL kicks off on 5 April.