England Test skipper Ben Stokes has decided to pull out of the IPL 2024. Ahead of the player auction next month (December 19), he was released by the Chennai Super Kings. The five-time winners signed him for 16 crores for IPL 2023. However, during the tournament, Stokes sat out due to injury.
Even during the Ashes 2023 and the ODI World Cup 2023, the left-hander played as a batter and didn't bowl at all. After all, he faced knee issues that also kept him out during the cash-rich league early this year. Meanwhile, ahead of the player auction, the IPL title holders have said that they are supportive of his decision.
"England Test captain, all-rounder Ben Stokes has made himself unavailable for IPL 2024 to manage his workload and fitness. Stokes, 32, became a part of the Super Kings ahead of the successful IPL 2023. He recently participated in the ODI World Cup 2023, which he came out of retirement for. 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," CSK said in a statement.
I have put a lot of hard work in away from cricket: Ben Stokes
Meanwhile, the England Test skipper in a different statement said that he wants to stay away from the game to give himself a chance to recover from the knee ailment.
"I've put a lot of hard work in away from cricket to give myself the best chance of a quicker recovery and, with Christmas and everything coming up, the main thing for me is getting this knee right and being ready and raring to go for that Test series in India," Stokes had said after England's last game at the World Cup.
This is how Twitter reacted
Soo csk cooking something to buy rachin ravindra pic.twitter.com/D2QlusNY1i
β World Hall of Fun (@WorldHallOfFun) November 23, 2023
No body will buy this fraud even if place his name in IPL auction pic.twitter.com/TF0lj216f5
β World Hall of Fun (@WorldHallOfFun) November 23, 2023
Pakistani fans "Ben Stokes will miss IPL, such a good decision "
β Ash (@Ashsay_) November 23, 2023
But he will not play PSL π€£π€£
Ben Stokes make the right decision, instead of warming CSK bench, it's better to enjoy holiday π
CSK is better off without spending 16 crores on him. And when Stokes is not playing ODIs anymore, what type of workload we're talking about?
β Shahzeb Khan (@theshahzebkhan) November 23, 2023
He was hurt by CSK release and Word Cup loss. He needs free timeπ
β Manu (@virat_facts) November 23, 2023
Just another britisher who robbed Indian money
β Himanshu Pareek (@Sports_Himanshu) November 23, 2023
Miss you Ben Stokes pic.twitter.com/xtltIv74Dx
β Abhishek Ojha (@vicharabhio) November 23, 2023
Which means CSK will win it again in 2024 since we didnβt play him much in 2023 π
β Ajay AJ (@AjayTweets07) November 23, 2023
Good decision by him..He hardly contributed anything in the last world cup and he is not going for big money as well.
β Sujeet Suman (@sujeetsuman1991) November 23, 2023
He will be fresh for the T20 world cup pic.twitter.com/mpP2EnCkoX
No loss for #csk pic.twitter.com/ccEfAFYGUP
β White knight π¦ (@santhoshtiger14) November 23, 2023