Ben Stokes skips IPL 2024, Joe Root follows suit

England lynchpin Joe Root has pulled out of Indian Premier League 2024, joining his red-ball skipper Ben Stokes in skipping the premier Twenty20 league. Root, who had made his IPL debut for Rajasthan Royals earlier this year, withdrew a day before the deadline for franchises to announce their releases and retentions ahead of the auction on December 19, 2023.

“Joe Root has opted out of IPL 2024. The dressing room will miss you, Rooty,” Royals said late Saturday in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Root became the second player from England to opt out of next year’s IPL after Stokes announced his withdrawal last week in order to manage his workload and fitness. Root was signed up by Royals for his base price of $121,000 in the IPL auction this year. He made it to the playing XI in three games but batted in just one, scoring 10 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Jaipur.