Rajasthan Royals opener and all-rounder Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the remainder of the ongoing 14th edition of the Indian Premier League. The decision has been made owing to a finger injury he sustained while taking a catch on against Punjab Kings at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday (Apr 12). The catch was to dismiss dangerous Chris Gayle and Stokes had put on his brilliant effort. In the process, he injured a finger on his left hand.
This has come as a big blow for the franchise who are already missing the services of premium fast bowler Jofra Archer. It would be big shoes to fill to the player taking Stokes’ place from the second match. As per the available options, Rajasthan could hand Liam Livingstone IPL debut or might even consider experienced David Miller for the rest of the season.
Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the IPL following a broken finger in last night's game. 😔
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) April 13, 2021
He will stay with the Royals and support the rest of the group in the upcoming matches. 💗#RoyalsFamily | @benstokes38 pic.twitter.com/WVUIFmPLMJ
Stokes immediately left the field to have some treatment for his injury. Even though he came out to bat later on in the second half, he couldn’t make a bigger contribution as he registered a 3-ball Duck. Chasing 222 to win against Punjab Kings in that match, Rajasthan Royals fell short of the target by a little margin of 4 runs. Their captain Sanju Samson played a brilliant hand scoring a century but did not take his team over the line.
“We are aware of Stokes’ injury 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,” said an ECB spokesperson as quoted by cricket.com.au.
Rajasthan Royals have lost their only match so far in the IPL 2021 edition. Their next match is against Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday (Apr 15).
0 Comments