Indian Premier League 2024: England Test Skipper Ben Stokes Pulls Out, Wants To Manage Fitness And Workload

Ben Stokes has been persistently hampered by knee issues and had declined to reveal the exact nature of the injury during the recently concluded Cricket World Cup in India.

Outlook Sports Desk

Updated on: 23 November 2023 1:58 pm

Stokes was available for selection again last week, but didnt feature in the playing XI for CSK.

Premier England all-rounder Ben Stokes will miss the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) due to workload management, his franchise Chennai Super Kings announced on Thursday. Stokes had joined CSK ahead of IPL 2023 but played in only two matches as he was managing a troublesome knee injury throughout the course of the two-month long tournament. (Match Blog | Streaming | Key Battles | Scorecard | Cricket News)

"England Test captain, all-rounder Ben Stokes has made himself unavailable for IPL 2024 to manage his workload and fitness," Chennai Super Kings said in a statement on their website on Thursday.

"The Chennai Super Kings management is supportive of Ben in his decision to manage his workload with England playing a 5-Test series in India before the IPL and then the T20 World Cup in June 2024," the statement added.

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Stokes had managed to score only 15 runs and bowled one over for 18 runs in his two appearances for the Super Kings in the 2023 competition.

Stokes has been persistently being hampered by knee issues and had declined to reveal the exact nature of the injury during the recently concluded Cricket World Cup in India.

Stokes hasn't bowled since July 1 - day four of the second Ashes Test at Lord's.

Stokes in September stated that there is a 'plan in place' to heal his knee. He said, "There's actually quite a long time off after the World Cup," added Stokes, who did not bowl in any of the last three Ashes Tests.

"I've been having some good conversations with some specialists. There is a plan in place.

"When we do what we need to do to give myself a chance of getting back to being a genuine all-rounder there will be a time when I can say what I'm doing.

"It's nice knowing after the World Cup we've got something, a really good plan we can do and we can stick to. I want to be playing next summer as a genuine all-rounder. This winter is all about playing this World Cup, then getting this knee sorted."

England will be touring India next year for a five-match Test series starting in January 25.