Ben Stokes IPL 2022 team: Star England all-rounder has joined his Test skipper Joe Root to pull out his name out of IPL 2022 mega auction.
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England all-rounder Ben Stokes has opted his name out of the 15th season of the Indian Premier league (IPL) likely to start by April this year.
Having lost the fifth Test in Hobart and thereby the Ashes series 0-4 on Sunday, Stokes has joined his Test skipper Joe Root to pull his name out of the IPL mega auction, slated to likely take place on February 12 and 13 at Bengaluru.
Root had cited ‘his care for Test Cricket in England’ as the reason for him opting out of the lucrative league, and that he’ll continue to sacrifice for as long as he could for the same.
“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 stated post losing the 5th Ashes Test at Hobart.
Ben Stokes IPL 2022 team: Why is Ben Stokes not playing in IPL 2022?
Ben Stokes has decided to play in the County Championship, as part of his preparation for England’s first Test of their home summer against New Zealand beginning June 2.
While there is no official statement coming from Stokes’ end yet, the various franchises of the IPL are no more expecting the English all-rounder to enter the auction deadline which has been pushed further back to January 20 (as against January 17 earlier).
Stokes would have been a huge prospect for any team at the auction table, after Rajasthan Royals (RR)-his previous franchise, decided not to retain him but wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler for the upcoming season.
The 30-year-old was the most expensive player at the 2018 mega auction, signing an INR 12.5 crore (£1.4 million approx.) deal with Rajasthan Royals.
The Southpaw’s decision also comes after a major section of the English Cricket fans and a few experts have blamed England Cricketers’ participation in ‘The Hundred’ and the IPL as reasons for their poor performance in Test Cricket.
How many England players in IPL 2022?
With Root and Stokes already opting out, and speedster Jofra Archer already making himself unavailable due to injury, IPL 2022 might witness a relatively small pool of English cricketers.
While Jos Buttler (RR) and Moeen Ali (CSK) have been retained by their respective franchises, and are thus expected to be available, Sam Billings, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Adil Rashid, and Eoin Morgan are the other big names likely to mark their availability.
England’s highest wicket-taker in the recently concluded Ashes series- Mark Wood has entered the auction but said before the Hobart Test that he was weighing up whether or not to withdraw as he did in 2021.
