Ben Stokes is one of Rajasthan Royals’ most important players. He is their star buy as RR splashed out Rs 12.5 crore to sign him in the 2018 Indian Premier League auctions. But he has missed the start of the 13th season of IPL that is taking place in the United Arab Emirates due to some personal reasons.
It looked like RR had received some good news when reports in the English media claimed that Stokes could join up with the RR squad in the first week of October. But former England spinner Monty Panesar has on the contrary said that he doubts that Stokes would play this year.
“With Ben Stokes, the situation is that his father is not in a good space. For that reason, he will probably be in New Zealand and I doubt he will be coming to the IPL,” said Panesar talking to Timesofindia.com
Panesar also said that Stokes is the ‘Superman of cricket’ and his presence will be massive for RR if he is able to make it this season
“He is a huge influence player, one of the key players with all-round abilities, dubbed the ‘Superman of cricket’. I think his presence in the IPL will be massive,” said Panesar.
Even without Stokes, Rajasthan Royals have looked good in their only outing so far in the IPL. They defeated Chennai Super Kings by 16 runs in their opening match. Sanju Samson, Steve Smith hit half-centuries in the match while Jofra Archer provided the fireworks at the end. Then the RR bowlers managed to defend it as they restricted CSK to 200.
