Ben Stokes likely to miss IPL 2025, could face ban from IPL 2026 - Reports

Ben Stokes opted out of IPL 2024 and is likely to miss next year’s tournament as well.

England test captain Ben Stokes is likely to skip the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. According to reports, the superstar England all-rounder aims to focus more on his red-ball game and take rest to manage his workload with England set to tour Australia towards the end of 2025 for a five-match Ashes series.

Stokes was part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) squad in the IPL 2023, but played only a couple of games that season owing to his knee injury. He then pulled out of the IPL 2024 season to prioritise red-ball duties and take rest.

Now, according to a report in The Telegraph, Stokes is unlikely to put his name in the IPL 2025 mega auction. England have a busy schedule in 2025 as after the Champions Trophy, their two most important assignments will be a home test series against India and an away Ashes series in Australia.

Ben Stokes will face a ban from IPL 2026 if he doesn’t enter the IPL 2025 mega auction

Stokes would create a conundrum for himself if he opts out of the IPL 2025 mega auction. He will be banned from entering the IPL 2026 mini auction if he doesn’t enter the IPL 2025 mega auction.

This is according to the new rules mandated by the BCCI. In its latest IPL player regulation for the auction, the IPL said, “Any Overseas Player will have to register for the Big Auction. In case the overseas player doesn’t register, then he will be ineligible to register in the following year’s player auction.”

So if Stokes opts out of the IPL 2025 mega auction, he will not be allowed to enter the IPL 2026 mini auction.

Further, if he does enter the mega auction but then pulls out ahead of the season, then he will be banned for two IPL seasons.

The IPL rules further stated, “Any player who registers in the player auction and after getting picked at the auction, makes himself unavailable before the start of the season, will get banned from participating in the tournament and player auction for 2 Seasons.”

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