2018 IPL auction: Five players who are likely to fetch the highest bid

Ben Stokes (England)

Benjamin Andrew "Ben" Stokes

Expected auction price: ?15-17 crore

Ben Stokes requires no introduction and is already touted as one of the best all-rounders of this generation. Having been bought for a whopping 14.5 crore last season, the expectations were sky high. He repaid the Pune hierarchy by bagging the most valuable player award and playing an instrumental role in taking Pune to the finals.

He was one of the rare few to deliver under the burden of the hefty price tag, as his exploits with his bat and the ball were well documented. Thriving under pressure, Stokes single-handedly won the Pune Supergiant games and dug them out of tough situations. He's likely to go for a similar amount this season around as all franchises would love for him to be in their ranks.

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The listed players are few of the many that are likely to go for big money. These numbers in no way are reliable as proven by the previous few auctions as we're definitely bound to see a surprise or two.