10 most expensive players in IPL 2017 and their performances

The 7-week tournament is over now as Mumbai Indians were crowned champions on Sunday night when they won a nail-biter against RPS in Hyderabad by 1 run. It was a see-saw final where Mumbai held their nerves to produce a solid bowling performance to win the game. RPS paid the price of being too cautious on the big night.

The IPL is a regular feature every year as the tournament is widely followed across India. Teams made sure that they had the right personnel going into the tournament as they bided aggressively at the IPL auctions held in February. There were a lot of unexpected buys this year and a few top players missed out as well for they did not get any buyers.

The record for the most expensive overseas player was breached this season as English all-rounder Ben Stokes was sold for a record Rs 14.5 crores to Rising Pune Supergiant. A lot of cricketers attracted big bucks at the auctions but not everyone performed to the expectations.

Let us have a look at the 10 most expensive players in the IPL this year and their respective performances:

#1 Ben Stokes

The RPS skipper Steve Smith revealed that he had spoken to the team management to acquire Stokes at any cost. The 25-year old was snapped for Rs 14.5 crores which surprised Stokes himself. The all-rounder took a little while to get used to the conditions and later formed a crucial cog in the wheels of RPS. Stokes did a great job with the ball and was particularly effective at the death. In 12 games played by Stokes this year, he picked 12 wickets at an economy rate of 7.18.

Stokes had just one fifty with the bat till he struck a memorable hundred against Gujarat Lions which helped his side chase down 162. The left-hander hit 6 sixes and 7 boundaries in his innings of 103* which came off just 63 balls. Stokes recorded 316 runs in 11 innings at 31.60 and a strike rate of 143. All in all, Stokes had a terrific debut in the IPL. He had to leave for national duty ahead of the Playoffs, though RPS would have loved to have him in for the big games.