Stokes was a notable omission from the list of 52 Englishmen entered in the Jeddah mega auction for the 2025 competition. It meant the England Test captain would not be allowed to play in the IPL until 2026, when he would be 35 years old. As per the new regulations introduced by the franchise owners, and ratified by the BCCI, players who previously appeared in the league but did not register for the mega auction will not be able to register for the subsequent mini auction.
History suggests that the SUV would have fetched a good price. Stokes has previously bagged lucrative multi-million pound deals with Rising Pune Supergiant, Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
“[There is] a lot of cricket,” Stokes said BBC sport in Christchurch ahead of England’s first Test against New Zealand. “There’s nothing to hide behind the fact that I’m at the end of my career. Obviously I want to play as long as possible. Taking care of my body and taking care of myself as much as I can is the key to that.”
The England Test team faces a legacy-defining 2025 with a five-match Test series at home to India before the Ashes at the end of the year. And with Brendon McCullum taking over the limited overs teams, Stokes could well return to the ODI set-up for the Champions Trophy in February. All this on top of a stint with MI Cape Town in the SA20 earlier in the year.
After spending most of the last 12 months rehabilitating his left knee following surgery and recovering from a torn right hamstring, Stokes, centrally contracted by the ECB until October 2026, admitted it was time to Start listening to your body for the sake of what’s left of your international career.
“[It is about] prioritizing matches and when I play (I’m obviously in South Africa this year), so it’s about looking at what’s ahead of me and making the decision that I think is right for me so I can prolong my career for as long as possible. possible. “I want to wear this England shirt for as long as I can.”
By not participating in the auction, Stokes has also helped the ECB, which found itself in an awkward situation last week when it had to concede late to allow Jofra Archer to participate in the auction despite initially blocking the move. Archer, whose central contract runs until October 2025, was bought by RR for £1.2 million (approximately $1.49 million).
