IPL 2018: Ben Stokes Bids Adieu to Rajasthan Royals With Dismal Numbers Behind Him
Published - 19 May 2018, 03:19 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:47 AM
Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) prized possession this season, Ben Stokes, who headlined during the auctions of two successive Indian Premier League (IPL) seasons, leaves the Twenty20 with disappointing numbers.
Renowned for their smart buys over the years, this time around, the marquee all-rounder cost the Royals an exorbitant $10,000 for every run he scored.
This turns out to be a luxury for even the lucrative IPL. Contrary to his outing last year for the Rising Pune Supergiant (now defunct), where he proved his worth with a heavier price-tag of INR 14.5 crore, with 316 runs and 12 wickets.
Also Read: IPL 2018: Jos Buttler’s Absence Will Surely Be Felt – Jaydev Unadkat
There is a school of thought which professes that the incident at Bristol involving the all-rounder, affected his performance this year.
“Ben Stokes hasn’t been that aggressive in-your-face cricketer in this tournament due to what’s happened. And part of that reason I think is that he has to keep a low profile. That’s not his personality,” Select Dugout analyst Scott Styris told AFP.
Due to the street brawl in September 2017 outside a pub in Bristol, the United Kingdom (UK) police reprimanded the English cricketer which made him miss a substantial amount of games for the country.
He needs to be that Ben Stokes- the character who dominates the game: Styris
Therefore, Ben Stokes came to India with a limited amount of games behind him.
The Durham-based all-rounder missed the Ashes, five-match One-day International series against the Aussies and the Trans-Tasman Twenty20 International series respectively.
“He needs to be that Ben Stokes the character who dominates the game,” Styris continued. “He was the number one all-rounder in the world, he was MVP,” seconded D<!----><<!---->!<!---->-<!---->-<!---->-<!---->-<!---->><!---->e<!----><<!---->!<!---->-<!---->-<!---->-<!---->-<!---->><!---->a<!----><<!---->!<!---->-<!---->-<!---->-<!---->-<!---->><!---->n<!----><<!---->!<!---->-<!---->-<!---->-<!---->-<!---->><!----> <!----><<!---->!<!---->-<!---->-<!---->-<!---->-<!---->><!---->J<!----><<!---->!<!---->-<!---->-<!---->-<!---->-<!---->><!---->o<!----><<!---->!<!---->-<!---->-<!---->-<!---->-<!---->><!---->n<!----><<!---->!<!---->-<!---->-<!---->-<!---->-<!---->><!---->e<!----><<!---->!<!---->-<!---->-<!---->-<!---->-<!---->><!---->s of Australia.
On the other hand, fellow England and Rajasthan Royals teammate, Jos Buttler proved to be unstoppable this season since his promotion at the opening slot.
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Buttler smacked five back-to-back half-centuries to amass a whopping 548 runs at a strike-rate of 155.
“Stokes was MVP last year and this year he has missed out and that’s the game T20. Don’t go there and start smacking from the word go. It’s all about momentum at the start. If you have scores under your belt then you relax in your job, but he hasn’t got that.” Jones suggested.
