Ben Stokes, captain of the England Test team and an all-rounder, has withdrawn from the upcoming IPL, his franchise Chennai Super Kings announced on November 23. Stokes, who reversed his decision to retire from one-day internationals last year and participated in the recently concluded World Cup in India, will undergo surgery on his left knee and will be recovering prior to the end of January 2024, when England’s highly-anticipated Test tour of India will commence. In contrast, he will abstain from participating in the upcoming IPL in order to effectively balance his time and physical condition.
“I will hopefully be fine for the Test series [against India],” Stokes had said during the World Cup. “I am having surgery after the World Cup… There was a lot of time put into deciding when to get it done. The India Test series, which we start at the end of January, I should be fine to go by then.”
CricAdvisor had previously reported that due to his probable unavailability for the season, CSK were planning to release the all-rounder they acquired for an astounding INR 16.25 crore in last year’s auction. The franchise has since expressed its endorsement of the England player’s choice to abstain from the upcoming season.
“The Chennai Super Kings management is supportive of Ben in his decision to manage his workload with England playing a 5-Test series in India before the IPL and then the T20 World Cup in June 2024,” an official statement from CSK said.
