IPL 2018: Team will be allowed to rope in a replacement if Ben Stokes withdraws

English all-rounder Ben Stokes is currently going through one of the toughest phases of his life, as he still remains in a fix regarding on whether he will be able to represent the national team or not. The English cricketer has not featured in any international game, following his involvement in a brawl outside a nightclub after an ODI match against West Indies in September last year.

Stokes is now expected to appear in front of the Magistrates’ Court in Bristol on February 13 as he has been charged with affray by the UK Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). With the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 auction just around the corner, the England all-rounder is also expected to be among the marquee players to be sold for the upcoming season.

Stokes will be forced to miss some part of IPL 2018

Stokes is expected to attract huge bids in the auctions due to his immense ability with both bat and ball as an acknowledgement of his match-winning skills. In IPL 10, he attracted the second highest bid in the history of the tournament as the cricketer was bought by the Rising Pune Supergiants for a record amount of 14.5 crores.

As per reports, Stokes’ IPL 2018 franchise would be granted the opportunity to rope in proper replacement if he is not available for the whole competition because of the legal proceedings.

All the eight franchises are extremely eager to include the Player of the Tournament from IPL 2017 in their team for the approaching season. Stokes scored 316 runs at an aggressive strike rate of 142.98, which also included an unbeaten century in a thrilling run-chase and picked up 12 wickets with an impressive economy of 7/18 in the 12 matches in the previous edition of the T20 league.

ECB will give Stokes the NOC

In the recent report, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) also confirmed that they will issue an NOC to Stokes and at the same time revealed that the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) will wait for the conclusion of all criminal proceedings before making a decision.

“The ECB have confirmed they will issue an NOC for Ben Stokes and advised that the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) will wait for the conclusion of all criminal proceedings relating to the charge against Ben before it runs its independent process,” said the IPL advisory as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.