England: Ben Stokes could skip this year’s IPL season after Ashes thrashing

Ben Stokes could skip this year’s IPL and follow captain Joe Root in helping England’s Test team recover from Ashes trauma

  • England’s Ben Stokes is considering making himself unavailable for IPL season
  • This year it ends the day after start of England’s first Test against New Zealand 
  • It’s understood Stokes may throw his energies into helping Test side recover


Ben Stokes is considering following the example set by his Test captain Joe Root by making himself unavailable for this year’s IPL.

Root opted not to put his name forward for next month’s ‘mega auction’, saying after England’s Ashes defeat that ‘there’s a lot that we need to do for this team, which deserves all of my energy’.

But while Root, who has never played in the world’s richest T20 tournament, was unlikely to have been picked up by an IPL franchise in any case, Stokes has played 43 matches in the competition, first for Rising Pune Supergiant in 2017, and since then for Rajasthan Royals, who signed him for £1.4m the following year.

England’s Ben Stokes is considering making himself unavailable for this year’s IPL season

It is understood Stokes ¿ Joe Root's vice-captain ¿ may decide to throw his energies into helping England's Test team recover from the trauma of their 4-0 Ashes defeat

It is understood Stokes – Joe Root’s vice-captain – may decide to throw his energies into helping England’s Test team recover from the trauma of their 4-0 Ashes defeat

This year’s tournament – expanded to 74 matches because of the inclusion of new franchises from Ahmedabad and Lucknow – begins on April 2 and ends on June 3, the day after the start of England’s first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s.

It is understood Stokes – Root’s vice-captain – may decide to throw his energies into helping England’s Test team recover from the trauma of their 4-0 Ashes defeat, having himself spent time last year out of the game to look after his mental wellbeing and injured finger.

Since England’s three-Test series in the Caribbean is due to end in Grenada on March 28, his participation in the IPL would mean virtual non-stop cricket from late February through to the spring of 2023, with fixtures cancelled during the pandemic squeezed into a busy winter later this year.

Stokes has played 43 matches in the competition, first for Rising Pune Supergiant in 2017, and since then for Rajasthan Royals, who signed him for £1.4m the following year

Stokes has played 43 matches in the competition, first for Rising Pune Supergiant in 2017, and since then for Rajasthan Royals, who signed him for £1.4m the following year

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