T20 World Cup – Will Ben Stokes Play? England & World’s most prolific allrounder of recent times Ben Stokes return to action is getting longer by the day. Stokes was contracted to play IPL 2021 Phase 2 in UAE for Rajasthan Royals – but will not be seen in action. And now according to reports in English media, not only IPL 2021 he is unlikely to feature in T20 World Cup for England
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T20 World Cup: After missing IPL 2021, Ben Stokes likely to miss World Cup in UAE, report says ‘he is currently not thinking cricket’
T20 World Cup – Will Ben Stokes Play? According to a report by Daily Mail, Stokes is unlikely to travel to UAE for T20 World Cup. Report has quoted sources close to Stokes and declared ‘he is not even thinking about cricket at the moment’.
Just before the India tour of England, England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had announced that Stokes is taking an indefinite period off from cricket to protect his mental well-being and rest a fractured finger operated on earlier this summer.
Report says, at this stage it is unclear and no one knows when Stokes will return to cricket.
When will England announce their World Cup Squad? Selectors will be picking England squad before Friday next week. As per the ICC rules, teams can name 15 member squad and 3 reserves.
Teams are allowed to make changes in the squad till October 10th.
According to Daily Mail, England selectors & Coach Chris Silverwood could provisionally name the 2019 World Cup-winning star within that 18 taking advantage of the above rule of ICC.
T20 World Cup: After missing IPL 2021, Ben Stokes likely to miss World Cup in UAE, report says ‘he is currently not thinking cricket’
IPL 2021: Ben Stokes to miss out, Rajasthan Royals announce replacement
Earlier Rajasthan Royals also had announced Stokes replacement. Stokes & fellow England teammate Jos Butler both will miss out on Phase 2 in UAE. Royals have signed West Indies duo Evin Lewis and Oshane Thomas as replacement players for Buttler and Stokes.
Lewis, a left-handed hard-hitting opener, had played 16 IPL matches for Mumbai Indians in 2018 and 2019 averaging around 27 with a strike rate above 131. Thomas, a fast bowler, has played 4 matches for RR in 2019 picking up five wickets.
Both are currently in the Caribbean Premier League, where Lewis in particular is in fine form. RR have thus lost the English trio of Stokes (mental health break), Buttler (birth of second child) and Jofra Archer (injury).
It is worth noting that Stokes also missed most of the IPL 2021 Phase 1 due to fracture in finger & featured only in 1 game for Royals.
Earlier, RR signed Tabraiz Shamsi, the World’s No.1 ranked bowler in T20Is to replace Australian fast bowler Andrew Tye, who pulled out of the league owing to personal reasons.
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