Ben Stokes makes himself unavailable for T20 World Cup
England Test captain Ben Stokes has made himself unavailable for the forthcoming edition of the ICC World T20 on Tuesday. Stokes architected England’s World Cup title triumph in Australia. The England star played a stellar knock of 52 against Babar Azam’s Pakistan in the 2022 final of the ICC event. With England set to defend its T20 World Cup crown in the United States and the Caribbean later this year, Stokes has handed selectors a major headache by ruling himself out of the T20 squad for the ICC event.
Returned from ODI Retirement
Returning from One Day International (ODI) retirement to spearhead England’s squad at the World Cup in India, Stokes had to delay his knee surgery last year. However, Stokes-starrer England failed to clear the group stage in its title-defending campaign at the 2023 World Cup. Following England’s exit from the ICC event, Stokes had an operation in November.
Stokes says no to T20 World Cup after opting out of IPL 2024
The former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) had skipped the Indian Premier League (IPL) season 2024 to manage his workload and fitness. Stokes was CSK’s most expensive auction buy before the start of the 2023 season. The former Rajasthan Royals (RR) all-rounder was roped in by CSK for INR 16.25 crore at the IP auction. Stokes captained England in the five-match Test series against Team India before the IPL 2024.
‘Opting out of IPL and World Cup will hopefully be a sacrifice’ , Stokes said
Stokes and Co. were outplayed by India, who handed England’s Bazballers a 4-1 series defeat in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC). In a statement released by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), Stokes explained why the Test skipper opted out of the IPL and the T20 World Cup this year. “I’m working hard and focusing on building my bowling fitness back up to fulfil a full role as an all-rounder in all formats of cricket,” Stokes said in a statement released by the ECB on Tuesday. “Opting out of the IPL and the World Cup will hopefully be a sacrifice that allows me to be the all-rounder I want to be for the foreseeable future. The recent Test tour of India highlighted how far behind I was from a bowling point of view after my knee surgery and nine months without bowling. I’m looking forward to playing for Durham in the County Championship before the start of our Test summer. I wish Jos, Motty and all the team the best of luck in defending our title,” Stokes added.
Upcoming Schedule of England
Despite radical changes in personnel and playing style, England remain rooted at the bottom of the 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC) table. Skipper Ben Stokes has to make the most of the home summer after dealing with two challenging five-match Test series assignments against Australia and India. England are scheduled to host West Indies and Sri Lanka in red-ball series after the 2024 T20 World Cup. Jos Buttler and company, on the other hand, have been drawn alongside the likes of Australia, Scotland, Oman and Namibia in Group B of the 2024 T20 World Cup. The team have lost their white-ball invincibility sheen that they held not so long ago. In recent times, they have suffered defeats against Bangladesh, New Zealand, and the West Indies in bilateral affairs.