England Test captain Joe Root and all-rounder Ben Stokes has decided they are not to participate in the mega auction for IPL 2022. Both the cricketers will not be seen playing IPL this year.
It was expected that in the auction, franchisees can buy Stokes for a huge amount. Now his absence has dealt a big blow to the franchise. Stokes is a master at turning matches on his own.
Joe Root and Stokes will now play in the County Championship to prepare for the home Test series against New Zealand.
After the defeat in the fifth match of the Ashes series, he said in the press conference – this team needs a lot of improvement. Test cricket is paramount for me and I can give my all for it. Root last played a T20 International in May 2019.
Ben Stokes is the favorite player of the teams in IPL. He was the Player of the Tournament in IPL in 2017 while playing for Rising Pune Supergiants. Also, in the 2018 auction, he was bought by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 12 and a half crore. The IPL Governing Council has set January 20 as the date for sending names to the players’ pool.
In IPL 2021, Stokes played only one match and broke his finger while trying to take a catch on the field. After this injury, he was out of the team for a long time. After this Stokes took an indefinite break from cricket citing mental health. It was only through the Ashes that he returned to cricket and scored 236 runs in 10 innings and took four wickets. It is believed that Stokes now wants to focus his full attention on the national team.