The much awaited auction for the 2022 season of the Indian Premier League will take place in February this year. Players have to give give their names to be available for the Auctions. But two England players decided to not participating in the IPL 2022 Mega Auction due to their responsibilities towards their country. England’s star all rounder Ben Stokes and Joe Root will not be part of IPL 2022 Mega Auction due to the responsibilities in the longest format of the game. Recently, England got thrashed by Australia in the Ashes by 0-4.
Root said last week that he is weighing upon whether to put his name in IPL Auction or not. But after a thumping loss from Australia in the last Test Match, Joe Root confirmed that he has decided against putting his name. While Root hasn’t played a T20 International since May 2019, he was not guaranteed that if he puts his name in the auction he will win the contract. Root went unsold in the 2018 season of IPL.
“There’s a lot that we need to do for this [Test] team, which deserves all of my energy. I’ll keep sacrificing as much as I can because I care so much about Test cricket in our country and trying to get us to where we want to be.”
Root after the loss
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Ben Stokes set to join England’s captain Joe Root
Star English all rounder Ben Stokes is also set to miss this year IPL Mega Auction too. Stokes recently made his comeback in cricket after a finger injury and mental health. The all rounder has featured in the last four seasons of the IPL and also won the Most Valuable Player Award in 2017 when he played for Rising Pune Supergiant. After 2017, Stokes was associated with Rajasthan Royals. Stokes was released by Royals after missing the bulk of last year season. But as a fast bowling all rounder, he was expected to get another bumping contract this year. But he decided to not participate in this season IPL to devote his time to Country’s responsibilities.
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Conclusion
England’s relationship with IPL is unique in world cricket. This is because of the IPL overlap with the home summer. Moeen Ali and Jos Buttler were the only England players retained by the franchises. Mark Wood has entered the IPL Auction but he also showed some intentions to drop his name after the Hobart Test. Leading white ball players like Liam Livingstone, Eoin Morgan, Sam Curran are expected to go under the hammer in the Auction.
A heavy Ashes defeat means centrally contracted players are set to limited in this season of IPL. The tournament starts on 3 April. And the Final of the tournament is slated for 3 June. And England’s Home Test Series against New Zealand will begin from 2nd June. Till now, Ben Stokes and Root have confirmed that they will not take part in IPL Auction 2022.
