Ben Stokes wants more players from England to participate in the IPL

England international and Rising Pune Supergiant all-rounder Ben Stokes wants more players from the country to take part in the IPL citing the unique exposure players get in the tournament. He termed his experience in the league using superlatives such as ‘amazing’.

Stokes grabbed all the headlines when he was bought by the Supergiant for a whopping sum of 14.5 crores this February. Along with Stokes, Chris Woakes, Tymal Mills, and Jason Roy also made their IPL debut this year. Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler, Sam Billings and Chris Jordan are already popular English names in the IPL circuit.

The 25-year-old justified his heavy price-tag perfectly as he scored 316 runs at a strike rate of 142.98 and took 12 wickets at an economy rate of 7.18 in the competition. Stokes won three Man of the match awards during the league stages of the tournament.

Citing national duties, Stokes and other English internationals were called back just before the IPL playoffs. However, in a recent interview, he suggested that more Englishmen should opt to participate in the tournament for their betterment.

Play the IPL – become a better player

“Everyone who goes there becomes a better player, It would be great in the future if maybe the whole England team could be out there. It’s not just the fact of playing in the tournament, it’s the exposure you get as a player. Playing in high-pressure situations against all the best players in the world at what they do – guys bowling at 150kph [93mph] and guys knocking it out of the park if you do not hit the areas you want to bowl,” quoted the Durham all-rounder when he was interviewed by BBC.

He also stated that IPL is the best T20 competition in the world which gives the opportunity to play with and against the best in the world. Further, he commented that his heavy price tag did not pressurise him as he was more focused on creating long-lasting impact while taking part in the field.

“To be part of a competition like that was an amazing experience – the biggest Twenty20 competition in world cricket – [as was] being able to share a changing room with the greatest players in the world, the greats of the game of cricket,” iterated the 25-year-old batsman.

“I didn’t go into the tournament worrying about [the fee]. The biggest thing for me was making sure I left a good impression with my performances on the field. That’s what we pride ourselves on as cricketers. All the pressure I put on myself was wanting to perform on the pitch,” concluded Stokes.

Stokes will play a vital part in the upcoming English summer featuring Test, ODI and T20I series against South Africa and the ICC Champions Trophy.