England’s premier all-rounder Ben Stokes has decided not to register himself for the upcoming IPL auction and will be playing the early part of the County Championship instead to prepare for the Test summer, reports ESPNcricinfo.
It seems England’s Test vice-captain has decided to free up his busy calendar after having battled a mental health concern and going on an elongated break last summer. Stokes was also recuperating from a finger injury at the time.
In a huge blow to the Rajasthan Royals, England's star all-rounder Ben Stokes has been ruled out after having broken his finger during the Rajasthan Royals-Punjab Kings encounter. The English all-rounder will, however, remain with the RR squad for the remainder of IPL 2021. pic.twitter.com/tsu6VMB7uY
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It is this finger injury picked up playing for Rajasthan Royals in their opening game of IPL 2021, which had ruled him out of the Indian leg of the competition. The 30-year-old played a few limited-overs games for his national side in the initial half of the home summer but then opted for an indefinite break, stating he is dealing with mental health concerns.
He returned after a three-month break to take part in the just-concluded Ashes 2021-22 and had a hard time with both bat and ball, looking massively underprepared.
Thinking ahead, he is reportedly eyeing more breathing space in an excessively busy international calendar, where players’ life has been made tougher due to the protocols imposed by health authorities amid the coronavirus pandemic, including stringent bio-bubbles.
Stokes played his maiden Premier League season in 2017 when he emerged as the Most Valuable Player for the now-disbanded Rising Pune Supergiants. A year later, he was bought for a massive sum of INR 12.5 crores by the Royals, a franchise with which he stuck around for next three years.
Stokes now joins England’s Test match skipper Joe Root in opting out of the mega auction for IPL 2022. Root, who had been pondering the move since the start of the Ashes, confirmed his call after the end of the series in Hobart.
“There’s a lot that we need to do for this [Test] team, which deserves all of my energy. I’ll keep sacrificing as much as I can because I care so much about Test cricket in our country and trying to get us to where we want to be,”
Root was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
