IPL 2021: Ben Stokes to Go Under the Knife, Out For Twelve Weeks

Rajasthan Royals’ all-rounder will fly home for surgery in Leeds on Saturday after sustaining a fracture to his left index finger.

A repeat X-ray and CT scan revealed that the 29-year-old has a fracture in his left index finger, an injury that he picked up during the ongoing IPL. Stokes, who is currently in India with his franchise Rajasthan Royals, will fly home on Saturday.

“Ben Stokes will be out for up to 12 weeks…He will have surgery in Leeds on Monday,” read a statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Friday.

The injury occurred while Stokes was fielding during Royals’ opening match against Punjab Kings on Monday when he completed a catch in the deep to see off Punjab Kings batsman Chris Gayle.

While Stokes is ruled out of the entire tournament, it remains to be seen if another key Royals player, Jofra Archer, can recover in time from a hand injury to take part in the later stages of the IPL.

Besides the IPL, Stokes will also miss England’s two-match Test series against New Zealand in June and a three-match Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka (June 23-26) followed by an ODI engagement against the same team (June 30-July 4).

England then has a three-match ODI series lined up against Pakistan from July 8 to 13.

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• Ben Stokes
• ipl
• IPL 2021
• Rajasthan Royals