England’s premier all-rounder Ben Stokes has admitted that it will be difficult for him and his fellow compatriots to take part in the currently-suspended Indian Premier League this year if and when it takes place due to clashes with the international calendar.
IPL 2021 got underway in April in India but was suspended and postponed indefinitely on May 4 after the completion of 29 matches due to Covid-19 positive cases in bio-bubbles of multiple franchises across Delhi and Ahmedabad. India has been hit badly by the 2nd wave of coronavirus infections with daily cases surging past 4,00,000.
Stokes sustained a fractured finger during Rajasthan Royals’ opening game against Punjab Kings and was subsequently ruled out of the league last month.
“We don’t know if or when the tournament will be rearranged, but as the ECB have said it could be difficult for the England boys to have a free gap,” Stokes wrote in his column for ‘Daily Mirror’.
“After this year though, I do look forward to playing a full part again at some point in the future,” Stokes wrote.
Stokes said he was absolutely devastated when he got injured but after initial skepticism, decided to go for surgery.
“I can’t put a date on when I’ll be back playing again, but as long as things progress as well as they have then I should hope it will be well before the three months that was first feared and more like seven, eight, or nine weeks.
“You can never know for sure how long these things will take because it is not just about the technical side of healing and getting the bone strong, there is the big issue of having confidence in it to play professional sport.”
“It was tough to say goodbye to the guys at the Rajasthan Royals earlier than I wanted, but the subsequent suspension of the tournament means that everyone is now back early with their families as India tries to get through such a difficult time.”
