Published: May 23, 2017, 04:20 PM (IST)
Edited: May 24, 2017, 02:17 PM (IST)
Having made a great impact in his debut season of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017, England all-rounder Ben Stokes credited Australian skipper Steven Smith and his batting tips for his immense success in the cash-rich league for Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS). For his stunning performance, Stokes was also named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament for the season, where he ended up with 12 wickets and 316 runs from the 12 games. It was mostly owing to his performance, RPS managed to reach the final. However, Stokes could not see his team through in the final, as he had to leave right before the business end of the tournament for international duty with the English side. IPL 2017: Ben Stokes awarded with the Most Valuable Player in IPL 10
“I felt like my game has got a lot better, from being able to work with the best players around the world and specialist coaches in that format. My bowling has gone up another level, working with Eric Simons, from South Africa [Pune’s bowling coach]. Being able to work on those skills for six weeks was a really good thing. I remember doing a batting session with him, with some power-hitting towards the end. The guy I’ll actually be playing against in the Ashes was helping me, something you’d never fathom when we’re playing against each other. The IPL is probably the only place where you would get that,” said Stokes, as reported by Reuters.
Stokes was presented the Most Valuable Player (MVP) on Sunday after the conclusion of the 10th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017. In the final of the tournament played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal, Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians (MI) defeated Rising Pune Supergiant by a narrow margin of 1 run.
