Ben Stokes has joined Joe Root in deciding not to enrol in the IPL 2022 mega auction instead England’s test captain & vice-captain will prepare for their home test series against New Zealand by playing in the County Championship.
Joe Root confirmed that he will not put his name in the IPL 2022 auction
Joe Root confirmed last week that he is thinking about whether to give his name for the IPL 2022 Auction or not after going unsold in the IPL 2018. However, after losing the fifth Ashes test & series by 4-0, Joe Root confirmed that he will not put his name in the IPL 2022 Auction & will concentrate more on test cricket.
“There’s a lot that we need to do for this [Test] team, which deserves all of my energy,” Root said. “I’ll keep sacrificing as much as I can because I care so much about Test cricket in our country and trying to get us to where we want to be.”
It seems like Joe Root’s decision of opting out of the IPL 2022 has influenced his deputy Ben Stokes who has followed his footsteps & made himself unavailable for the IPL 2022 Auction. Stokes was not retained by his franchise Rajasthan Royals as the franchisees are not expecting Stokes to enter the mega auction before the deadline which has been extended till January 20.
Talking about Stokes availability in the IPL 2022, England’s head coach Chris Silverwood said, “not 100 per cent sure yet,” whether Stokes would enter: “I’ve got an inclination but I’ll let him tell you [the media],” he added.
Stokes was ruled out of the 2021 auction due to his injury
Earlier during IPL 2021 fixture, Stokes broke his finger while dropping a catch in the deep. Due to his injury, he was ruled out of action for the rest of the year & also took a break on mental-health grounds after he had attempted to make a comeback ahead of schedule.
Ben Stokes made himself available for the Ashes 2021-2022 but could score 236 runs in 10 innings & took four wickets at 71.50 playing as a specialist batter in the final ashes test after suffering a side strain during the SCG Test. Ben Stokes will next be seen in action in the three-match series against West Indies in the Caribbean in March.
Ben Stokes was the IPL’s MVP in 2017 playing for Rising Pune Supergiant, and was the most expensive player at the 2018 mega auction, signing an INR 12.5 crore (£1.4 million approx.) deal with Rajasthan Royals. His services will be missed by the Rajasthan Royals franchise.
From England’s team, only two players have been retained by their respective franchise ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction to be held in Bengaluru on February 12 & 13. Moeen Ali has been retained by CSK while Rajasthan Royals retained Jos Buttler. Rajasthan Royals opted to retain Buttler – along with Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal – ahead of Stokes.
Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone and Eoin Morgan are also expected to be featured in the IPL 2022 mega auction
Meanwhile Mark Wood has entered the auction but before the Hobart test, he made it clear that he is still thinking about whether to withdraw or not from the IPL 2022 mega auction as he did in 2021. Jonny Bairstow and Ollie Pope both are expected to put their names forward in the auction while leading white-ball players like Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, and Eoin Morgan are also expected to be featured in the IPL 2022 mega auction.
Jofra Archer who was an integral part of the Rajasthan Royals squad will not feature in the auction as he is still recovering from his long-term elbow injury. A full list of players available for Auction will be circulated to the franchisees at the end of this week.
The dates of the IPL 2022 are yet to be finalized but England players selected for the first test against New Zealand starting on June 2 are expected to miss the knockout stages in order to prepare for the test series.