Nabi, Rashid first Afghan players in IPL; Stokes goes for Rs 14.5 cr

Spinner Rashid Khan and all-rounder Mohammed Nabi were on Monday bought by defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad, making them the first Afghanistan cricketers to be bought by an Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise at the ongoing auctions here.

While Rashid was bought for a whopping Rs 4 crore, Nabi went for Rs 30 lakh. Afghanistan captain Asghar Stanikzai, however, joined the likes of India's Ishant Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Pragyan Ozha, South African Imran Tahir, West Indians Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels, to remain unsold.

Earlier, England all-rounder Ben Stokes was awarded for his scintillating performance with both the bat and the ball during their recent tour -- he was bought by Rising Pune Supergiants (RPSG) for a whopping Rs 14.5 crore.

Stokes' teammate Chris Woakes was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 4 crore.

Meanwhile, left-arm pacer T. Natarajan emerged one of the biggest gainers to be sold for Rs 3 crore to Kings XI Punjab, which is 30 times his base price of Rs 10 lakh.

Rookie spinner Krishnappa Gowtham and Rajasthan medium pacer Aniket Choudhary were sold for 20 times their base price of Rs 10 lakh. While Gowtham was bought by the Mumbai Indians, Choudhary went to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for Rs 2 crore.

Delhi Daredevils have invested Rs 5 crore for South African pacer Kasigo Rabada while New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult also went for Rs 5 crore to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

Mumbai Indians also bought retired Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson for Rs 2 crore while England pacer Tymal Mills went to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for Rs 1.2 crore

Among others, 2016's highest paid Indian all-rounder Pawan Negi could only fetch Rs 1 crore and was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore.

English T20 skipper Eoin Morgan was bought by the Kings XI Punjab at his base price of Rs 2 crore, while Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Matthews went to Delhi Daredevils for Rs 2 crore along with New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson for Rs 1 crore.

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