Virender Sehwag: “This time, everyone has the money for Ben Stokes. So maybe, he can cross Virat Kohli’s number”
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Former India opener and Kings XI Punjab director Virender Sehwag believes that England all-rounder Ben Stokes could be paid more than Virat Kohli in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL).
Kohli, who captains India, was retained by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 17 crore, but Stokes will be part of the player auction on January 27 and 28 as the Rising Pune Supergiants, the team he played for last year, won’t feature in the upcoming edition of the tournament.
Stokes became the most expensive overseas player in IPL history at last year’s auction after he was sold for INR 14.5 crore.
Despite being among the players with the highest base price of INR 2 crore, Sehwag pointed out that all the franchises have money to spend and Stokes could receive bids up to 20 crore.
“Yes absolutely, there are 2-3 players who can fetch more,” Sehwag told Sportskeeda. “In an auction, when a team wants a specific player and there are a couple of other teams too, a bid that starts for Rs. 2 crores can end up going till even Rs. 20 crores.
“We saw last time, Mumbai Indians didn’t have the money to buy Ben Stokes so he went for Rs. 14 crores. This time, everyone has the money for Ben Stokes. So maybe, he can cross Virat Kohli’s number.”
Meanwhile, the Kings XI only retained India all-rounder Axar Patel for INR 6.75 crore. While the move has left many fans baffled, Sehwag defended the franchise’s decision.
“I think an Indian player’s value is more in the IPL. When we recruited Axar Patel three years back, he was an uncapped player,” he said. “He came to Punjab for 30 lakh and since then, has played for India. If he would have been part of the auction, he could have definitely fetched 8-10 crore. He is a useful player like Ravindra Jadeja. Axar is in this category.
“He is a bowling all-rounder, which is necessary, and he can bowl 4 overs. He has batted extremely well in a few matches last season. He is a big hitter. For the past 2 years, we have been trying to improve his batting. Then, he can become the perfect all-rounder.”