Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the remainder of the IPL 2021 with a broken finger in his left hand. Rajasthan Royals (RR) took to Twitter to announce the news.
“Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Ben Stokes injured a finger on his left hand while fielding during the team’s match against Punjab Kings on 12 April 2021 in Mumbai. Subsequent investigations revealed that he sustained a broken finger, which will unfortunately rule him out of the remainder of the Indian Premier League 2021 season,” the inaugural season’s IPL champion said in an official statement.
“Everyone at Rajasthan Royals absolutely admires Ben for being such a huge asset and a valuable member of the Royals family, both on and off the field, and wishes him a speedy recovery,” the statement further read.
Stokes will, however, stay with the team and provide his support and inputs off the field.
“We are delighted that Ben would like to stay with the group to provide his valued support and inputs off the field. In the meantime, we will be reviewing potential replacement options for the remainder of the season,” the official statement read.
In the match against Punjab Kings (PBKS), Stokes had bowled the eighth over, but didn’t comeback to bowl any more even though the opposition scored 221 for 6. He subsequently came out to open the innings for Royals with Manan Vohra, but departed for a duck after top-edging a pull back to Punjab pacer Mohammed Shami.
The Royals lost the thrilling encounter by four runs.