In what comes as a huge blow to the Rajasthan Royals (RR), their star England all-rounder Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the 14th edition of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, due to a suspected broken hand.
Stokes is said to have suffered the injury to his hand during Rajasthan Royals’ opening match against Punjab Kings at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday night, according to The Independent.
The report added that Stokes suffered the injury while trying to take a catch to dismiss West Indies batsman Chris Gayle as he felt pain in his left hand after a diving effort in the outfield.
The injury and his subsequent exit from IPL 2021 cricket tournament also brings an end to a forgettable and painful tour of India for Stokes as a player of his calibre and magnitude could not make any sort of impact either with the ball or with the bat across formats and despite featuring in almost every game.
It also means that Rajasthan Royals, who were determined to give their opening pair of Stokes and Manan Vohra an extended run at the top, will have to find a new pair which will be their sixth since the start of IPL 2020.
The exit of Stokes deals a body blow to Rajasthan Royals who were very hopeful of a much improved performance this year after making plenty of changes to their squad. Rajasthan Royals did away with their long-time player and captain Steve Smith and gave the job of captaincy to India’s Sanju Samson.
Rajasthan are also currently struggling with the a couple of injuries suffered by their lead fast bowler, England’s Jofra Archer, who has been dealing with a troubled right hand elbow as well as a cut to his finger on the same hand with which he bowls.
Archer is missing the opening stages of IPL 2021 tournament as he has been recovering from the surgery on his finger, from which the doctors were able to recover some fragments of glass after the freak fishtank incident in his home in Hove, this January. It is not sure when Archer would be able to make a comeback for the Royals, as he was cleared to train as recently as on Tuesday.