Rising Pune Supergiants made a massive statement about their ambitions in the IPL on Monday after splashing a record Rs 14.5 crore for England all-rounder Ben Stokes. (IPL auction, live updates)The IPL auction in Bengaluru was about teams plugging holes, having already retained a big chunk of their squad, but it was clear who the biggest name in the mix was ahead of the auctions. Read more | IPL auction: Ben Stokes goes for record Rs14.5 cr to Rising Pune SupergiantsNew zealIt showed RPS are ready to go all out, the snaring of Stokes coming a day after announcing that Mahendra Singh Dhoni will no longer be the skipper and that Australia captain Steve Smith will take charge. The drastic steps come after Rising Pune Supergiants came in a poor seventh in IPL 2016, barely managing to avoid finishing last in the eight-team competition last year. Although Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen have grabbed headlines in the IPL, England players have been reluctant to play in the marquee Twenty20 franchise league.

Source: Hindustan Times February 20, 2017 05:48 UTC