“I’ve put myself forward for the auction”
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
All-rounder Ben Stokes will be one of the high-profile England players up for grabs after he confirmed that he will be part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction next month.
The IPL draft will take place on February 4, and Stokes revealed that he hopes to compete in the star-studded tournament as he wanted to experience the thrill of featuring in one of the elite domestic Twenty20 tournaments in the world.
“I’ve put myself forward for the auction, it’s a good opportunity to go away and experience different competitions,” Stokes said. “I’m looking forward to seeing if I get the chance to see what it’s all about.
“You end up playing against the best players in the world, albeit in T20 cricket. But, look at the guys who’ve gone away and played franchise cricket in Australia and India as well, they’ve all come back and said very, very good things – said it has massively helped their cricket.
“The guys you get to work with as well, not just players but coaches as well. They’ve all come away with really good experience and they’ve all said they think they’ve become better players from doing that. The more chances that we get, I think that is going to do us a world of good.”
With that in mind, Stokes admitted that playing in the IPL would be beneficial for him and his English team-mates as it will allow them to get a taste of something different than the Natwest T20 Blast they are accustomed to featuring in.
“This year’s IPL is a chance, not just for myself, but a few of the other English guys to go ahead and experience what it’s like. Get a different side of T20 cricket, rather than just play in England,” he said. “I won’t say I am lucky, but in terms of the English summer, it is quite hard to get away and go and experience what it is like to play in these foreign T20 leagues.”
Stokes’ compatriots Sam Billings and Jos Buttler have been retained by the Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians respectively, while Jason Roy recently revealed that he was eager to play in the competition.
England have a training camp scheduled in mid-May ahead of a three-match ODI series against South Africa and the Champions Trophy, and if Stokes is asked to cut his IPL stint short, he made it clear that he will have no problem doing so.
“I am an England player. So the decision will get made on what would happen then,” he said. “I’ll just go with whatever… if they feel that it is best for the English guys who go out there to stay over there, then we’ll follow that. And if they want us to come back to represent England, which is what our job is to do, then we’ll come back and have no complaints.”
For the time being though, England will have to focus on their upcoming limited overs series against India, which begins with an ODI in Pune on Sunday.
England have not made a great start to their limited overs tour of the country as they won their first warm-up match against India A by three wickets before being comprehensively beaten by six wickets in the second fixture.