Vivo IPL 2021: Rajasthan Royals Ben Stokes will fly back home and will undergo finger surgery.
Vivo IPL 2021: English all-rounder and Rajasthan Royals (RR) cricketer Ben Stokes will fly back home and will be out of cricketing action for “upto 12 weeks”. The star all-rounder will undergo finger surgery in Leeds on Monday.
The repeated X-rays and scans suggested that the cricketer has sustained a fracture in his left index finger due to which he was earlier ruled out of the remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 season. Stokes who was expected to be with Rajasthan Royals for the entire IPL will fly back home on Saturday.
“Ben Stokes will be out for up to 12 weeks…He will have surgery in Leeds on Monday,” read a statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Friday.
The incident took place during the first game of Rajasthan Royals (RR) against KL Rahul’s Punjab Kings (PBKS). Stokes in the deep took a catch to send Chris Gayle back which unfortunately broke his finger.
Earlier, it was said that the English all-rounder will remain back with the franchise and will be crucial in giving his key inputs off the field. However, ECB later clarified that Stokes will undergo his finger surgery and will come back home.
This is a huge setback for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) given they don’t have premier pacer Jofra Archer available as he sustained a hand injury recently. However, it remains to be seen whether Archer will cover up the damage by returning back to IPL on time or Royals will play the entire IPL without them.
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