Ben Stokes rules himself out of contention for England's 2024 T20 World Cup squad

England all-rounder Ben Stokes has opted out of the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup selection for the country as he looks to build on his fitness and prepare for the English summer.

Stokes played a huge role in England's success at the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, which also remains his last T20 endeavor. The all-rounder claimed six wickets and played a match-winning knock in the tricky run chase in the final against Pakistan.

Stokes announced his retirement from the ODI format in 2022, but reversed his decision to play the 2023 ODI World Cup in India. The general expectation was that the big match player would be part of Jos Buttler's squad to defend their title in the Caribbean and the USA in June.

Ben Stokes made it clear that he would not be available for selection and aims to play for Durham in the County Championship in the meantime. The all-rounder recently played the five-match Test series against India, but largely as a batter, despite undergoing surgery on his knee that was supposed to bring him back as a genuine all-rounder.

“I’m working hard and focusing on building my bowling fitness back up to fulfil a full role as an all-rounder in all formats of cricket," Stokes said in a statement released by ecb.co.uk.

“Opting out of the IPL and the World Cup will hopefully be a sacrifice that allows me to be the all-rounder I want to be for the foreseeable future.The recent Test tour of India highlighted how far behind I was from a bowling point of view after my knee surgery and nine months without bowling. I’m looking forward to playing for Durham in the County Championship before the start of our Test summer. I wish Jos, Motty and all the team the best of luck in defending our title," Stokes added.

Ben Stokes had withdrawn from the IPL in November 2023 ahead of the mega auction. He played a couple of matches for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 2023 edition, where they eventually went on to win the title.

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Ben Stokes' current focus lies on lifting England from the bottom in the WTC points table

Despite radical changes in personnel and playing style, England remain rooted at the bottom of the 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC) table. Skipper Ben Stokes has to make the most of the home summer after dealing with two challenging five-match Test series assignments against Australia and India.

England are scheduled to host West Indies and Sri Lanka in red-ball series after the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Jos Buttler and company, on the other hand, have been drawn alongside the likes of Australia, Scotland, Oman and Namibia in Group B of the 2024 T20 World Cup. The team have lost their white-ball invincibility sheen that they held not so long ago. In recent times, they have suffered defeats against Bangladesh, New Zealand, and the West Indies in bilateral affairs.