IPL 2024 Auction: Chennai Super Kings all-rounder Ben Stokes pulls out of IPL Season 17; here's the reason why

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Chennai, Nov 23: Chennai Super Kings all-rounder Ben Stokes has decided to give next year's Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) a miss to focus on his international career.

Stokes - who leads England in Tests - was purchased by CSK at the IPL 2023 Auction in December last year for a whopping INR 16.25 crore. The senior cricketer, however, struggled with his fitness in the entire competition which his franchise ended up winning.

IPL 2024: Ben Stokes To Skip

Stokes - who was also seen as the potential future captain for the Super Kings once their legendary skipper MS Dhoni retired from the premier domestic T20 tournament - only featured in the iconic yellow jersey twice in IPL 2023.

Stokes was consistently pestered with a long-standing knee injury preventing him from playing for the CSK in the early stages of the tournament. He even failed to star in the Ashes this summer.

The left-handed batter and right-arm medium pacer, however, came out of 50-over retirement to feature in England's unsuccessful defence of their ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 title in India.

Stokes is set for surgery on his knee injury to ensure he is fit for England's five-match Test series with India which begins in January and has cited the need to manage his workload as a reason for missing IPL 2024, with the Twenty20 World Cup also on the horizon in June.

The Super Kings team management supported the all-rounder's decision to skip next year's tournament, which will be held between March and May.

A statement from Chennai Super Kings said, "England Test captain, all-rounder Ben Stokes has made himself unavailable for IPL 2024 to manage his workload and fitness."

"Stokes, 32, became a part of the Super Kings ahead of the successful IPL 2023. He recently participated in the ODI World Cup 2023, which he came out of retirement for.

"The Chennai Super Kings management is supportive of Ben in his decision to manage his workload with England playing a five-Test series in India before the IPL and then the T20 World Cup in June 2024."

The IPL 2024 Auction is set to be held in Dubai on December 19 where all ten franchises will look to fine-tune their squads ahead of the seventeenth edition of the competition. CSK will also look for a replacement for Stokes in the auction.