"Looking forward to playing the IPL in full in the future" - Ben Stokes 

It has been three years since Ben Stokes played an entire season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The English all-rounder left the tournament midway in 2019 to prepare for World Cup 2019 and played in just 8 games in 2020. A broken finger meant that he was ruled out of IPL 2021 as well.

However, Ben Stokes is hopeful of playing an entire IPL season sometime in the future. He said that it was tough to leave the Rajasthan Royals (RR) and isn’t sure if he could participate in this year's tournament even if it resumes at a later stage.

“We don’t know if or when the tournament will be rearranged, but as the ECB have said, it could be difficult for the England boys to have a free gap. After this year though, I do look forward to playing a full part again at some point in the future," said Ben Stokes.

"It was tough to say goodbye to the guys at the Rajasthan Royals earlier than I wanted. But the subsequent suspension of the tournament means that everyone is now back early with their families as India tries to get through such a difficult time," added Ben Stokes.

Was a kick in the face to be told the season is over for me: Ben Stokes

Ben Stokes said that he was dejected after he broke his finger in the first game of the season after taking a catch off Chris Gayle.

“There is no question that my mood was through the floor after discovering how bad my left index finger injury was, as a result of catching Chris Gayle in the deep. It was the opening game of the IPL and to be told that it was already over for me was just a huge kick in the face," said Ben Stokes.

Ben Stokes also revealed that he is hopeful of returning to the field sooner than expected.

“I’m feeling pretty good about things. I can’t put a date on when I’ll be back playing again. But as long as things progress as well as they have, then I should hope it will be well before the three months that was first feared and more like seven, eight, or nine weeks," said Ben Stokes.

England will play a five-match Test series against India in a few weeks. This will be followed by the T20 World Cup and the Ashes. Ben Stokes’s return will be the key to England excelling in these important tournaments.