Ben Stokes’ Instagram post proves his excitement about the IPL

Rising Pune Supergiants bought Ben Stokes for a whopping Rs 14.5 crore in the tenth auction of the Indian Premier League. The England all-rounder has revealed that he simply cannot wait to play alongside the likes of MS Dhoni and Steven Smith in the Pune team.

Most of the players will be joining their franchises by the end of March, since IPL will be beginning in the first week of April. Stokes took to Instagram to express his joy.

HR posted a photo with three bats lined against the wall which read: “I’m 25 and still get a buzz from getting new bats,off to Pune to meet up with @punesupergiants next week can’t wait to get started ??@newbalanceuk @redbulluk.

I'm 25 and still get a buzz from getting new bats,off to Pune to meet up with @punesupergiants next week can't wait to get started ??@newbalanceuk @redbulluk

A post shared by Ben Stokes (@stokesy) on Mar 22, 2017 at 2:26pm PDT

Interestingly, this will be his first season in the cash-rich league since England players have usually been busy with international commitments during the IPL. England this year will play no international matches in the month of April. but are lined up to play two ODIs against the West Indies in May, followed by another three-match series against South Africa later in the same month. That makes the England players available till April 30.

Stokes’ good performance in England’s tour of India went to the notice of the IPL franchises, who had a war of bidding for him. The 25-year old has been a hit with cricket fans and Pune will hope that he can put repay the investment made in him with his explosive hitting in the death overs and pick wickets with the ball with his medium pace.

Pune Supergiants will be playing their second edition of the IPL and haven’t had a very good outing so far. They finished at the bottom in their first season in 2016. The team was criticized so much so that the franchise stripped MS Dhoni of captaincy duties and Australian captain Steve Smith has been appointed skipper going into this season.