The 25-year-old, who hasn't played franchise cricket till date, has a career strike rate of 134 plus while batting and a bowling economy rate of 8.60 in 77 matches.
Stokes was in the wish-list of five franchises, who engaged in tough bidding for the player, who is now revered as the world's top all-rounder.
The 25-year-old, who hasn't played franchise cricket till date, has a career strike rate of 134 plus while batting and a bowling economy rate of 8.60 in 77 matches.
Mills, on the other hand, has played 55 Twenty20 matches, fetching 63 wickets with a reasonably good economy rate of 7.47.
Asked whether Pune skipper Steven Smith was consulted in bidding for Stokes, Goenka said everyone including Stephen Fleming have been a part of the decision.
"Steven Smith and Stephen Fleming, everyone has been a part of this decision. This is a very collective and collaborative decision. We actually didn't go for individuals.
We looked at the spots and gaps to fill and we did exactly that.
"We needed this kind of an all-rounder in our team. We are reinforcing our core, our playing XI and you would see the rest of the strategy as the day unfolds," Goenka explained.
The first round of bidding for Stokes saw Mumbai, Delhi and RCB match each other till it reached Rs 10.50 crore after which the Reliance-owned franchise pulled out.
Delhi and Bangalore continued before Sunrisers entered the fray. But just when it looked that Stokes would go for around Rs 12.5 crore, Pune entered the fray and clinched the deal.
For left-armer Mills, who bowls at 90 mph, what got RCB going was a replacement for Mitchell Starc, who pulled out of the IPL yesterday.
"Bangalore has a very small ground. It favours batsmen -- the average first innings score was 199, and second innings was 190 and therefore, we really needed bowlers, especially with Mitchell Starc's unavailability this edition, and therefore Tymal Mills was a great buy. He suits the playing conditions in Bangalore," RCB chairman Amrit Thomas told reporters.
Among other notable international players, New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson and Sri Lankan Test captain Angelo Mathews were picked up by Delhi Daredevils at their base price of Rs 1 Crore (USD 150,000)and Rs 2 crore (USD 300,000) respectively.
Daredevils also bought South African paceman Kagiso Rabada for Rs 5 crore after some bidding.
New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult was picked by KKR at Rs 5 crore (USD 750,000).
(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
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