IPL: How every England player performed this season

English players were popular and expensive in the IPL auction, but how have they performed?

Jos Buttler had established himself as the Royals’ opening batsman (AFP/Getty Images)

Almost £5m was spent on English players in this year’s Indian Premier League auction, including £1.39m on Ben Stokes, the most any team spent on an overseas player. England Test captain Joe Root was unsold in the auction, along with Jonny Bairstow and one-day captain Eoin Morgan.

The IPL is the India’s domestic T20 competition and is the most attended cricket league in the world. After six weeks of swanky matches, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals now compete in a series of knockout games to win the IPL and its $4m prize money.

England’s Test series against Pakistan starts this week and Ben Stokes, Jos Butler, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood have all been called up to the side after playing in the IPL. English players were popular and expensive in the IPL auction, but how have they performed?

Ben Stokes 4 out of 10

Matches: 13. Batting Average: 16.33. Strike Rate: 121.73. Wickets: 8. Bowling Economy: 27.75.

After playing a huge part in the Supergiant’s run to the final last year, and being named Most Valuable Player, Ben Stokes’ £1.4m deal with Rajasthan Royals was seen as a smart one. However, Stokes has failed to replicate his historic explosive IPL form and justify his large price tag.

Without Steve Smith in the side they Royals needed Stokes’ powerful batting to form an integral part of their top order, but he often not delivered when at the crease.

In the field and with the ball in hand Stokes was able to produce glimpses of his potential for the 2008 winners but his season was “disappointing,” which he acknowledged in an Instagram post where he bid farewell to Rajasthan following his England Test call-up.

Ben Stokes underperformed in India (Getty Images)

Jos Buttler 9/10

Matches: 13. Batting Average: 54.80. Strike Rate: 155.24.

Rajasthan Royals’ chancing of qualifying for the knockout round of the tournament were looking very bleak, until one little tweak. After batting fifth or sixth in the order, Jos Buttler opened the batting and scored an impressive 67 runs against the Deli Daredevils, a move which changed Rajasthan’s fortunes.

Buttler had established himself as the Royals’ opening batsman and proceeded to make light work of the powerplay, at times his shot selection and execution was exemplary and a joy to watch. The batsman-keeper equalled a long-standing IPL record of five consecutive fifties as he fired Rajasthan into the final four.

The timing of Buttler’s form could not be any better with a return to England’s Test squad after an 18-month absence.

Jos Buttler has been recalled to the Test side (Getty)

Jofra Archer 8/10

Matches: 9. Wickets: 13. Bowling Economy: 8.38.

You would hope everyone at the ECB is getting very excited at the thought of England having one of the most exciting fast bowlers on the planet. After signing for Sussex in 2016, Archer has set alight Austalia’s Big Bash League and became an IPL star as Ranjasthan Royals’ leading wicket taker.

With pace that rivals Michell Starc, Archer has justified the £800,000 the Royals bid on him to be part of their attack. Consistent deliveries of over 90 miles per hour made taking wickets from some of the biggest names in cricket no problem for this young man. The only fault in his play has been the number of wide balls he delivers and a disappointing batting average (3.00).

Archer, who possesses a British passport and has an English father, will not be able to play for England until 2022 when he will have finished his seven-year residency period, a requirement for players arriving in England after turning 18.

Jofra Archer is a promising talent (Getty)

Sam Billings 6/10

Matches: 10. Batting Average: 13.5. Strike Rate: 138.46.

The Kent captain upset county members when he elected playing with MS Dhoni for the Chennai Super Kings instead of the greens of Tunbridge Wells or Beckenham. “I didn’t go there for monetary value, it’s being there to improve as a cricketer and getting the opportunity to play in front of 60,000 people,” said Billings after securing his £111,000 contract.

Billings has bettered his previous IPL form and hit an impressive 56 off 23 balls, but has failed to register more than ten runs on six occasions.

Sam Billings didn’t always hit the heights (Getty)

David Willey 5/10

Matches: 3. Wickets: 2. Bowling Economy: 9.50.

David Willey joined Chennai as a replacement for the injured Indian all-rounder Kedar Jadhav. His late departure from Yorkshire frustrated the County’s director of cricket Martyn Moxon who said: “We find ourselves in an impossible situation with these late replacement requests.”

Willey’s involvement with Chennai has been limited, but he has shown some patches of good play when given the chance.

David Willey has not had major involvement in the IPL (Getty)

Mark Wood 1/10

Matches: 1. Wickets: 0. Bowling Economy: 12.25.

Mark Wood returned to England, after playing in one game for where he went for 49 runs without taking a wicket. Andrew Strauss, England’s director of cricket, phoned Wood and convinced him to return to Durham and push for a place in the Test series against Pakistan.

Jason Roy 6/10

Matches: 5. Batting Average: 30.00. Strike Rate: 127.65.

Signed to provide explosive batting around Gautam Gambhir for the Delhi Daredevils and has done that in parts. Roy made an impressive unbeaten 91 off 53 balls as Delhi beat Mumbai Indians early in on the tournament, however he describes his season as “frustrating to say the least” after an early injury forced him out the side, which he has struggled to come back from.

Jason Roy had a ‘frustrating’ season (Getty)

Liam Plunkett 6/10

Matches: 7. Wickets: 4. Bowling Economy: 9.00.

Liam Plunkett patiently waiting for his chance to impress for the Delhi Daredevils in his debut IPL season. 3-17 against Kings XI Punjab was a tournament highlight for the Yorkshire exile who has bowled with impressive pace and power.

Tom Curran 6/10

Matches: 5. Wickets: 6. Bowling Economy: 11.60. Batting Average: 7.66. Strike Rate: 82.14.

The Surrey seamer was unsold in the January auction but was called up by the Kolkata Knight Riders as a replacement for the injured Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc. Had very big shoes to fill and has done a reasonable job in stepping up for the Knight Riders in Starc’s absence. This experience is continuing to mould the 23-year-old into a very fine cricketer.

Tom Curran continues to improve (Getty)

Moeen Ali 6/10

Matches: 5. Batting Average: 19.25. Strike Rate: 167.39. Wickets: 3. Bowling Economy: 7.36.

An Australian tour to forget and shattered confidence meant that Moeen Ali’s £189,000 sale in January’s auction to Royal Challengers Bangalore raised eyebrows. Ali, who has not been included England’s squad to play Pakistan, has put his torrid last six months behind him and produced some fine work at the crease for RCB.

65 off 34 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad, one of the tournament’s meanest bowling teams, drew praise from RCB’s captain and Surrey-bound Virat Kohli. “Moeen’s come in and done a great job for us,” said the world number two batsman. “Three games he has bowled really well and tonight his knock was outstanding, so hats off to him for grabbing his opportunities.”

Moeen Ali was praised by Virat Kohli (Getty)

Chris Woakes 5/10

Matches: 5. Wickets: 8. Bowling Economy: 10.36. Battering Average: 8.50. Strike Rate: 89.47.

The all-rounder joined Moeen Ali at RCB for a lofty £822,000, Bangalore’s biggest purchase, and struggled to take the number of wickets he was trusted to deliver. Expensive performances in RCB’s first five games meant there was not place in Bangalore’s side for the rest of the season as they finished sixth.

Alex Hales 5/10

Matches: 6. Battering Average: 24.66. Strike Rate: 125.42.

After being made to wait for his IPL debut, Hales took a while to look his most comfortable but certainly played in Hyderabad’s table-topping season.

His highest score of 45 against Rajasthan, while impressive, will certainly not be his most memorable moment during his time in India. Against RCB, Hales was batting well and had 37 runs to his name. When he hit Mooen Ali’s delivery deep towards the boundary, Hales must have been thinking about another well hit six. However, AB de Villers leapt into the air and took a blockbuster catch which defied all reasonable laws of physics.