Ben Stokes is likely to skip IPL 2025 and may not include his name in the list for the auction, according to British media. Stokes last played in the IPL in the 2023 season when he became CSK’s costliest player. However, he only played a few games and warmed the bench mostly due to injury.

He will withdraw his name from the auction for the 2024 season and now they expect to do the same for next year. According to the Telegraph, Stokes is expected to lead a number of England players opting out of IPL 2025, prioritizing a crucial year for England’s Test side.

With the registration deadline for the IPL ‘mega auction’ on Sunday 3 November, many England players face difficult choices about whether to participate due to new regulations set by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the demands of the upcoming season of testing. Stokes, however, plans to bow out of the tournament. The IPL auction is anticipated to take place at the end of November, possibly hosted in Saudi Arabia.

The BCCI introduced a new rule ahead of the 2025 IPL season where any player who registers in the player auction and after being picked in the auction, becomes unavailable before the start of the season, will be suspended from tournament participation and player auction for 2 seasons.

Many believe that the rule was introduced specifically for England players as Harry Brook withdrew before the start of the tournament. Phil Salt and Jos Buttler would depart before the start of the IPL 2024 playoffs, much to the frustration of their respective franchises.

England’s calendar for 2025 is full, a year for which they have fully prepared. In Test cricket, Ben Stokes will lead the team in a home series against India and an away series against Australia, where the express pace of Mark Wood and Jofra Archer will be crucial. Given the injury history of both fast bowlers, England are carefully managing their workload to maximize their availability for these key series and are consequently unlikely to feature in the IPL.