IPL 2022 Auction: Ben Stokes has stated that Test cricket is his “number one priority”. He has now opted out of the IPL Auction for this season. Stokes, one of the most sought-after players in the IPL, has opted not to participate in the forthcoming IPL Auction. He went on to say that he wants to work with England Test captain Joe Root to rebuild the squad following the team’s humiliating 4-0 loss in the Ashes.

Stokes won the IPL MVP award in 2017. He was the most expensive player in the 2018 auction, selling for Rs. 12.5 crore to Rajasthan Royals. He performed admirably for the team in IPL 2019 and had a strong showing in IPL 2020, scoring a century. The mega auction will take place on February 12 and 13 in Bengaluru, ahead of the 2022 IPL season.

If Stokes had been available, Gautam Gambhir, the mentor of the Lucknow Supergiants, has intimated that the franchise’s management would have recruited him. Stokes said he had “thought long and hard” whether or not to join the auction.

But that playing two months of early-season County Championship cricket would best prepare him and England for their first home Test against New Zealand on June 2. Stokes’ absence from the IPL came as a shock to the ten franchises. He is now one of the best all-rounders in modern cricket.

In 2021, Stokes took a leave for mental health and was out of competitive cricket for a long time during the year. Along with Joe Root, Sam Curran, and Chris Woakes, Stokes is one of the numerous England players who will not enter in the auction taking place in Bengaluru. However, others including Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, and Mark Wood will.

IPL 2022 Auction: Anderson and Broad Dropped from Squad

England’s James Anderson and Stuart Broad are not in inclusion for the forthcoming Test series against the West Indies. This is as part of the ECB’s red ball team shuffle. Due to 4-0 Ashes’ defeat in Australia, Ashley Giles, Chris Silverwood, and Graham Thorpe were out from the management team.

Now the popular duo of bowlers with 1,177 Test wickets between them is now in inclusion to the listing of victims. The interim management team of Sir Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood, have begun the much-discussed ‘red-ball reset’. Eight players have already been dropped.

Despite being misplaced, Broad finished as the team’s second-highest wicket-taker in Australia. Other dropped players are Dawid Malan, Sam Billings, Dom Bess, Rory Burns, and Haseeb Hameed. t includes four uncapped names on the panel.

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