Cricket: The glory and ignominy of the Indian Premier League auction

English cricketer Ben Stokes. Photo / Photosport.nz

The glory and ignominy of the Indian Premier League auction were in full swing last night at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Bengaluru.

Englishman Ben Stokes faces a charge of affray next month after an incident outside a Bristol nightclub in September, but he also has a prospective haul of $2.7 million at the Indian Premier League in April.

The Rajasthan Royals have hired his all-rounder services as they return to the tournament from a two-season suspension after an illegal betting and match-fixing probe in 2015.

At the time of writing, Stokes had been joined in the "$2 million club" by Indians KL Rahul and Manish Pandey, and Australians Chris Lynn and Mitchell Starc.

Rahul's batsmanship was secured by the Kings XI Punjab for $2.4 million, while the Sunrisers Hyderabad recruited Pandey for the same figure.

He will be joined by New Zealand captain Kane Williamson who was sold for $641,000.

Lynn went to the Kolkata Knight Riders for $2.1 million, as did pace bowling compatriot Mitchell Starc for $2m.

Australian Glenn Maxwell ($1.9m to the Delhi Daredevils), Kedar Jadhav ($1.7m to the Chennai Super Kings) and Ravichandran Ashwin ($1.6m to the Kings XI Punjab) were other big earners.

The evening held less joy for West Indian Chris Gayle, South African Hashim Amla, Englishman Joe Root, Australian James Faulkner and Indian Murali Vijay. All went unsold.

New Zealand's Martin Guptill joined their ranks, despite a relatively low reserve of $160,000 and previously stints with Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians. The perception he struggles against spin in the subcontinent continues to shadow him.

In 67 T20 international innings, Guptill averages 32.56 at a strike rate of 130; in 21 T20 innings on the subcontinent he averages 20.52 at a strike rate of 113. He could still get snaffled at the back end of the auction.