Ben Stokes and Tymal Mills in a state of shock after bagging whopping contracts in IPL Auction

The story of two England cricketers changed forever after they bagged whopping contracts in the IPL auction held in Bengaluru today. The life of all-rounder Ben Stokes and left-arm seamer Tymal Mills has changed forever after the duo was bagged by Rising Pune Supergiants and Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs. 14.5 crores and Rs.12 crores respectively. Both players were in the contention to bag their first ever IPL contracts nad they have done it in style.

Tymal Mills who was diagnosed with congenital back condition a couple of years back and feared his career was over has instead made a dramatic upward curve in his career following the whopping IPL deal. While Stokes was bought for 5 times his base price, Mills bagged seven times of his base price. It has been a sensational week for Stokes after the southpaw was also named as Joe Root’s deputy in Test cricket.

“It’s been a pretty incredible week and, considering you normally have your most exciting times when you’re playing, it’s been an amazing and interesting few days. I set my alarm for 3.30am, got up and waited about 40 minutes for my turn in the auction. I was anxious, not really knowing what would happen. I was following it on Twitter, I didn’t actually see it live. I kept on refreshing my notifications, I saw people were tweeting and then I realised that Pune had got me,” Stokes was quoted as saying by ESPN Cricinfo.

It was difficult for Stokes to make out what exactly was happening in the auction as the bidding process was conducted in rupees and Pune bought him at the final moments before Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Daredevils showed immense interest in buying him.  “I wasn’t sure how much a Crore was, people were retweeting stuff, it was complete carnage. I still haven’t seen the footage,” Stokes said.

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“I hadn’t thought about how much I would go for. I guess having more than one team wanting me was probably the best position to be in. I just wanted to get picked up and play. I haven’t been able to play in the past so that was the main thing, anything else was just a bonus. I’m looking forward to getting out there and getting involved. Seven times my base amount – that’s mental and it hasn’t sunk in yet, but pretty cool to think about I guess. Hopefully, I’ll live up to it, win a few games and deliver on what they’ve paid for me,” Stokes was quoted as saying.

“It’s a life-changing amount of money, I can’t really say more than that. I’m really thankful and grateful for how it went this morning. I’m struggling to put it into words.It has all been a bit hectic and I haven’t had much time to think about it. I’m just seriously excited about getting going,” he further added.

The story of Mills was simply exceptional for a youngster who had feared to retire from all forms of cricket just a couple of years back. It hasn’t yet sunk for Mills who made an impression for himself in the recently concluded T20I series against India with his exceptional slower deliveries.

“I can’t believe it. I can’t put into words what happened,” he said. “I did not see this coming and it took a while for it to sink in. It has been a crazy day. I was the lowest of the base prices because I just wanted to get picked up by a team. I didn’t want to wait until July for my next cricket. My agent had spoken to some of the teams and there had been some interest but until it happens you just don’t know what will happen,” he further added.

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Mills agreed that he was very nervous ahead of his bidding but once it touched 10 crores he knew it was big money. “When my name came up I was nervous, giddy and jumpy. I was on facetime with my best mate and he just kept shouting. The bidding was quite slow but once it hit 10 Crore I knew it was big money, but it kept going,” Mills said.

“When it finished I did not know how much it was worth. When I worked it out I could not believe it, it did not seem real. It’s an amount of money that can change your life. It will for me. I went for breakfast with Luke Wright after watching the auction and he said the back injury might have been the best thing that ever happened to me. It was sad at the time, being 22 and having to think about retiring from the game, but being able to focus on T20 has accelerated my development.

“This is my first winter on the T20 circuit. I’ve played in the Big Bash, have the IPL coming up and am looking forward to playing with the Sussex lads in the Blast this summer too. It’s been fun. I’ve travelled the world and met some cool people. I’m grateful,” Mills concluded.