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IPL: England star Ben Stokes bought by Pune for record figure
Stokes has netted the biggest ever deal given to a foreign Indian Premier League player after being snapped up by Rising Pune Supergiants.Manchester United v. Manchester City live online
England's Ben Stokes became the highest-paid foreign player ever in the Indian Premier League when he was bought by Rising Pune Supergiants on Monday.
Beats Pietersen record
The 25-year-old all-rounder secured a deal worth 145 million rupees (around $2.16m or 2.04m euros) in the IPL cricket auction held in Bangalore.
He attracted multiple bids from the rival franchises competing in the eight-team Twenty20 tournament, before the gavel finally came down on Pune's winning offer.
The figure smashes the previous record paid for a foreigner, set in 2014 when Delhi Daredevils shelled out 90m rupees for ex-England captain Kevin Pietersen.
Still below Yuvraj deal
However, Stokes' contract is still short of the 160m rupees that Royal Challengers Bangalore forked out for the Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh in 2015.
IPL gets underway in April
The IPL, which was first held in 2008, begins on 5 April and runs until 21 May.