Ben Stokes has chosen not to participate in the Indian Premier League next year.

Stokes was bought by Chennai Super Kings for £1.65m last December, but struggled with his fitness and played only twice for his new franchise in the 2023 tournament. A longstanding knee injury failed to stop the Test captain from starring in the Ashes this summer, while he recently came out of 50-over retirement to feature in England’s unsuccessful defence of their World Cup crown in India.

He will undergo surgery for his knee injury in order to be ready for England’s five-match Test series against India in January. He has stated that managing his workload is the reason for opting out of the 2024 IPL and the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup in June.

Although Stokes will not be able to play for the defending champions of the IPL, the management team of the Super Kings fully supports his choice to not participate in next year’s tournament, which is expected to take place between March and May as usual.

The Chennai Super Kings team has announced that England’s Test captain and all-rounder, Ben Stokes, will not be participating in the IPL 2024 due to concerns about his workload and fitness. This decision comes after Stokes joined the Super Kings for the successful IPL 2023. He had previously come out of retirement to participate in the ODI World Cup 2023. The Super Kings management fully supports Ben’s choice to prioritize managing his workload, especially with England facing a five-Test series in India before the IPL and the T20 World Cup in June 2024.

England has added Matthew Potts to their roster for the upcoming one-day series against West Indies due to an injury that has sidelined seamer Josh Tongue for the tour.

In the upcoming month, England will compete in three 50-over games in the Caribbean, followed by five T20 international matches.

Tongue’s impressive performance on the global platform continued in his breakthrough year, as he received his first invitation to the white-ball team when the squads were revealed on November 12th. However, he has encountered a fitness issue during a training camp for the England Lions in the United Arab Emirates. This creates an opportunity for Potts to rejoin the 50-over team, having previously played in three ODIs, with his most recent match being against Ireland in September.

Source: theguardian.com