A Mumbai Indians Fan Requests Rajasthan Royals To Release Ben Stokes; Rajasthan Royals Responds

England cricketer Ben Stokes is one of the leading all-rounders in the game across all formats currently.

Stokes is one of the most sought after cricketers and is one of the most expensive players to feature in the Indian Premier League.

Having initially started his IPL career with the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiants, Ben Stokes has established himself as a crucial member of the Rajasthan Royals unit.

The all-rounder was recently retained by his franchise ahead of IPL 2021.

However, Rajasthan Royals, who have released their erstwhile skipper Steve Smith and have appointed Sanju Samson at the helm, were asked by a Mumbai Indians fan to release the New Zealand-born Ben Stokes.

It was pretty ironic that the request came from a Mumbai Indians fans, whose franchise already boasts of arguably better T20 all-rounders than Ben Stokes in Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard.

Naturally, Rajasthan Royals were in no mood of releasing Stokes and all they did was reply to the Mumbai Indians fan with a GIF.

Trade ben stokes to MI @mipaltan

— Thalapathy Vigneshwaran (@Vigneshwaran908) January 25, 2021

Here’s how Rajasthan Royals responded to MI fan:

pic.twitter.com/SlI4pxm9zU

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) January 25, 2021

Speaking of Ben Stokes’ performances in the last IPL, the all-rounder joined the Rajasthan Royals in the second half of the season since he was with his ailing father in New Zealand.

Stokes played as an opener where after initial hiccups, he excelled as he smashed the opposition bowlers with absolute disdain. The all-rounder racked up 285 runs in just 8 games at an average of 40.71 and a strike-rate of 142.50 with a hundred and a half-century. His bowling, though, left a lot to be desired as he not only proved to be expensive [Eco- 10.26] but also ineffective, managing just 2 wickets at the expense of 154 runs.

Rajasthan Royals will be hoping that Ben Stokes brings more consistency to his game in the upcoming season. Stokes has underwhelmed as an all-rounder ever since he joined the Jaipur-based franchise in 2018.

Also Read: This Is Not The Time To Jettison Tim Paine: Greg Chappell