Ben Stokes thanks Rising Pune Supergiant team and fans ahead of the last league game

Well before the auction of the IPL season 10 England allrounder Ben Stokes was making the news. He had a highly impressive show against the Indian team during the subcontinent tour and given his effectiveness with both bat and ball was set to sell for a huge sum at the auction. The Rising Pune Supergiant playing their last season had clear intentions of signing him no matter how high the bid went.

He earned a contract worth 14.5 crores the highest an overseas player has ever been paid to feature in the IPL and his availability was limited only until the league stages of the tournament. Thus far he has played 12 matches of the 13 for his team and scored 316 runs for the team with a strike rate of 142.98 including one century, a half century and an average of 31.60.

To back up his show with the bat Stokes has also picked up 12 wickets at an economy of 7.18 which is very respectable in the shortest format of the game. He played a magnificent knock against the Gujarat Lions to get to his maiden T20 hundred and ensured his team won a crucial game.

His all round performance has contributed big time to RPS being in a position where they just have to win the last encounter against Kings XI Punjab and can secure a top 2 finish in the league.

Stokes’ message

Stokes’ has to fly back home after the 14th match of his team to participate in their series against South Africa and to prepare for the Champions Trophy set to be played from June 1.

Ahead of the final encounter, the Englishman posted a message for his fans in India on Instagram. Stokes wrote- “Had an amazing time with the @punesupergiants in this years #ipl10 big last game for me today,hopefully we can get the win and get through to the finals,thanks to everyone involved and to the fans who have been amazing #rpsg”

Had an amazing time with the @punesupergiants in this years #ipl10 big last game for me today,hopefully we can get the win and get through to the finals,thanks to everyone involved and to the fans who have been amazing #rpsg

A post shared by Ben Stokes (@stokesy) on May 13, 2017 at 11:27pm PDT