Ashes Discarded Ben Stokes Given NOC to Play in IPL

The England Cricket Board (ECB) is looking forward to easing out ways for Ben Stokes’ return to IPL for the upcoming season.

The list of players who will be undergoing under the hammer on January 27 and 28 will come out soon, and before that, Stokes has to be permitted to confirm in his participation in the tournament.

(Read Here: CSK retain MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina ahead of IPL auction)

Presently, Stokes is a suspended player and is not a part of the Ashes Test squad as well. He was earlier named in the team, but his name was later withdrawn after the ‘bar incident’ that occurred. He was recently named in the ODI squad with Alex Hales, but the participation of the duo will only get confirmed after the developments in the case.

Stokes, meanwhile, had acquired a NOC from ECB to play in New Zealand for Canterbury, a stint which he ended just a couple of days back after he did not see any hope of Ashes return.

“I imagine having given him a NOC (no-objection certificate) to play in New Zealand, it will be difficult for us to say on balance that we would not apply the same thinking to playing in other parts of the world. But the NoC is based on a particular tournament. If we want board backing for a decision such as this, and this has been hugely complicated and board backing for a decision of this magnitude might not be a bad idea, then the implications of it (the game’s reputation) is something we have to work out,” Tom Harrison, ECB Chief Executive.

It got confirmed that Stokes will be allowed to go under the hammer on the auction day and he would also be playing the cash-rich T20 tournament.

Last season, where Stokes was named in the auction list for the first time, he bagged deal with Rising Pune Supergiant worth Rs 14.5 Crore. It is to be noticed his participation in the full tournament was not confirmed when the franchise bought him, and it was the next day when he, along with Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler, was allowed to miss the Ireland series.

Eoin Morgan and Sam Billings had to leave the tournament mid-way due to international commitments.

Stokes, in his debut IPL season, shone for RPS with 316 runs and 12 wickets in 12 games. Stokes is expected to draw more price this season, primarily due to his form in the previous season of the tournament.

(Read Here: Video – MS Dhoni quick glovework to dismiss Asela Gunaratne)

(Read Here: David Warner urges his SRH teammate to come good in BBL 7)

Video of the day –