Ben Stokes ruled out of IPL 2021

Ben Stokes has been ruled out for the rest of the IPL 2021 tournament due to a broken finger in his left hand. The Rajasthan Royals all-rounder injured himself during the high scoring encounter against Punjab Kings while trying to grab a catch of Chris Gayle diving forward at long on off the bowling of Riyan Parag.

The English all-rounder evidently looked in so much pain after taking the catch.

Ben Stokes taking the catch of Chris Gayle in the 10th over of the match (PC: BCCI/IPL)

The Royals released a statement on Tuesday saying that subsequent investigations revealed that Stokes has sustained a broken finger, which will ruled him out of the remainder of the Indian Premier League 2021.

It was told that Stokes will continue to stay in the RR camp and not leave for England. He will provide support and inputs off the field. A possible replacement shall me made soon.

England Cricket Board has shown concern over the recent developments as they released a statement.

“We are aware and he will be assessed over the coming days on the extent of the seriousness of the injury. At that point we will confirm the next steps,” an ECB spokesperson said.

Stokes played one match this season in which he bowled just one over. He took a catch and scored a duck in 3 balls. Royals lost the match by just 4 runs in a match captain Sanju Samson hit a smashing century.

This injury comes as a big blow to Rajasthan Royals as they are already handicapped with out Jofra Archer who is recovering and is likely to miss at least the first four matches of the season. One good news though is – Archer was cleared to train on Tuesday.

The current available overseas options for Rajasthan Royals are Jos Buttler, Chris Morris, Liam Livingstone, David Miller, Mustafizur Rahman and Andrew Tye.

The injury also raises concerns over Stokes’ availability for the home series against New Zealand in a lead up to World Test Championship against India. England are scheduled to play a 2 Test match series against New Zealand followed by are due to a five-Test series against India, after which is the T20 World Cup in India, followed by the Ashes in Australia.