His name will be a big miss from the next season.
Ahead of the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025), it has been understood that an England superstar had opted to miss the tournament in a bid to prioritise red-ball cricket.
According to reports in the British media, Three Lions Test skipper Ben Stokes is likely to skip IPL 2025 and may not include his name in the list for the auction.
Stokes’ last IPL appearance was in the 2023 season when he was signed by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as their most expensive player at INR 16.25 crore. Unfortunately, due to an injury, he only participated in a few games and spent most of the season on the bench.
Ben Stokes subsequently opted out of the auction for the 2024 season and is now likely to do the same for the upcoming year too.
The IPL 2025 auction is anticipated to be held in late November, possibly hosted in Saudi Arabia.
With the registration deadline for the IPL 2025 mega auction approaching on Sunday (November 3), several England players are facing tough decisions about their participation. This is due to the recent regulations introduced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the demands of the upcoming Test season.
Ahead of the next season, the BCCI implemented a rule stating that any player who registers for the auction, gets picked, and then becomes unavailable before the season starts will be barred from both the tournament and future auctions for the following two seasons.
Many believe this rule specifically targets England players, as Harry Brook had withdrawn before the tournament began, and Phil Salt and Jos Buttler had to leave before the IPL 2024 playoffs, causing inconvenience for their respective franchises.
For more updates, follow Cricxtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram and YouTube.
