Rajhastan Royals (RR) are to miss the professional services of their star sensation, Ben Stokes, for the first half-season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2020).
The RR has been lenient towards him and wants him to spend quality time with his family at Stokes left England vs Pakistan Test matches in midway after his father was spotted at New Zealand’s hospital being treated with Brain cancer.
The missing of the perfect all-rounder for the initial matches might be a blow for RR. He was bought in the auction for 12.5 Crores. However, he has completed his 14-day isolation after reaching New Zealand and will be seeing his father. The management of the franchise does not want to interrupt the father-son time and is not in a hurry to recall him.
One of the officials of the franchise was spotted saying that calling him at the moment is not the priority and they not looking for a permanent replacement for him. The good understandability means the fans will soon be seeing Stokes in the extravaganza to be kicked off from 19th September-3rd November.
Ben Stokes likely to miss a few matches of IPL 2020
“As per quarantine rules in New Zealand, Ben has just completed his 14-day isolation period after reaching New Zealand. Now he will be meeting his father and obviously, he would like to spend some quiet time with his family in this time of crisis,” a source privy to developments in the franchise said, as quoted by Star Sports.
“It is only logical that if he has just completed his quarantine, he would not be available for the first part of the IPL and that is completely understandable. The franchise will not even call Ben as this is not a priority at the moment. Let him spend quality family time and any discussions on his availability can happen only after that,” the source added.
“I didn’t sleep for a week and my head wasn’t really in it. Leaving was the right choice from a mental point of view,” Stokes had told the Weekend Herald on Saturday after reaching New Zealand.
