"All Of My Decisions Will Be Based Around Test Matches" - Ben Stokes On Prioritising 5-Day Cricket Over IPL

England Test skipper Ben Stokes said that his schedule will be planned around the Test matches that England gets to play and depending on that, he will decide whether or not he can feature in the IPL.

Stokes withdrew his name from the IPL 2022 auction along with Joe Root in order to bring English Test cricket back on the right track. They had a terrible 2021 season but have turned their fortunes around this time around.

“It is a case of looking at schedules, looking ahead at what we have got coming up. But as I have made it very clear, Test cricket is at the forefront of my mind and all of my time decisions will be based around Test matches.”

“Now being the captain, I have the responsibility to do that,” Stokes was quoted as saying to PTI during a virtual interaction organized by ‘Prime Video’ on the occasion of the release of his documentary series ‘Ben Stokes: Phoenix from the Ashes’.

“It is just an amazing experience to be involved in” – Ben Stokes on the IPL

Stokes said that rubbing shoulders with the best of the lot in the IPL is a great pleasure but Test cricket continues to take precedence in his career.

“I’ve played in the IPL for four years. I’ve loved it every time I’ve been there. It’s an amazing competition to be part of, not just for the spectacle of the IPL, but the opportunity to work along with the best players in the world, and some of the best coaches.”

“It is just an amazing experience to be involved in but as I said, there is a schedule to be looked at around the window of the IPL,” he mentioned.

England players also play in the Hundred which is currently ongoing and the national team players need to balance their schedule around the same.

“As England cricketers, our schedule is jam-packed and we seem to be playing all year around. I think our summer is everybody’s winter and when our winter comes along, it is everybody’s summer. So, people are either coming here to play or we are touring to play cricket,” Stokes concluded.

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