English all-rounder Ben Stokes is not sure about re-joining the remaining season of the VIVO Indian Premier League. The Indian top-tier T20I tournament got called off after players from various teams got tested for COVID-19. The BCCI was forced to suspend the league after just 29 games. Nevertheless, BCCI is optimistic about resuming the league sometime ahead this year.
IPL 2021: Ben Stokes Rules Out IPL 2021
England and Wales Cricket Board Director of Cricket, Ashley Giles, made it clear that it will be difficult for the English players to join the IPL again this year. Rajasthan Royal’s all-rounder, Ben Stokes, who left the season mid-way due to an injury, confirmed the news. Ben Stokes stated that English players might miss out on IPL 2021 due to their upcoming packed schedule.
“We don’t know if or when the tournament will be rearranged, but as the ECB have said it could be difficult for the England boys to have a free gap,” Stokes wrote in his column for Daily Mirror. “After this year though, I do look forward to playing a full part again at some point in the future,” he added.
“I can’t put a date on when I’ll be back playing again, but as long as things progress as well as they have then I should hope it will be well before the three months that was first feared and more like seven, eight, or nine weeks,” wrote the 29-year-old.
“You can never know for sure how long these things will take because it is not just about the technical side of healing and getting the bone strong, there is the big issue of having confidence in it to play professional sport,” he asserted.
“It was tough to say goodbye to the guys at the Rajasthan Royals earlier than I wanted, but the subsequent suspension of the tournament means that everyone is now back early with their families as India tries to get through such a difficult time,” added Stokes.
