“I had to treat myself, and I love cars”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

In February, England all-rounder Ben Stokes was plastered all over the headlines as he made history by becoming the most expensive overseas player at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction.

Stokes had a base price of INR 2 crore, but he ended up attracting a lot of attention and ended up going to the Rising Pune Supergiants for an eye-popping INR 14.5 crore.

Stokes fared well in his maiden IPL season as he scored 316 runs in 12 matches, which included a hundred and a fifty, at an average of 31.60. He also took 12 wickets at an average of 26.33.

However, what exactly did the 26-year-old do with all the money he received?

He spent some of it on a supercar and has saved the rest.

“I won’t be touching the rest for a long time,” he told The Mirror. “But I had to treat myself, and I love cars.”

Stokes, though, insisted that money has never been the driving force for him as he is more concerned about how he performs on the field.

“Looking back on the price tag that everyone talks about, the fact is I would have left with the same amount of money had I done poorly or had I done well – so the only way I was going to judge myself was by how I did on the pitch not by the price,” he said. “Thankfully things did go pretty well in that sense so I left India with my shoulders up and chest out because I felt good that I had managed to produce big performances for the team.

“If it had gone the other way and I hadn’t managed to play well then I would have felt like I’d let myself down.”

There is no doubt that Stokes will be a key player for England when they travel to Australia for the Ashes in November.

Stokes played alongside Steve Smith during his IPL stint and even received batting tips from the Australian captain.

However, Stokes revealed that his friendship with Smith will be put aside on a temporary basis once the Ashes gets underway.

“Are we friends? … Aye,” Stokes said. “We got on well together but I think we both know when it comes to Ashes cricket and Australia against England it is back to how it is.

“If you spend five or six weeks on the same team as someone you’re bound to get to know them because you get to see the real person and spend time with them.

“But I’m not going to be shy of saying something to him if I need to out there and I don’t think he would be either so that is probably where we are.”