So Ben Stokes is a man marred with controversies right now.
After being charged with affray over the incident that took place outside of a
bar in Bristol, the all-rounder has pledged to come clean in the trial by
revealing his part of the story.
However, there is always a chance that the Englishman could
be sentenced to prison or be barred from playing the game during the Indian
Premier League. As a result, the governing body of the IPL have decided to
allow a franchise to replace Ben Stokes should he be unavailable after being
bought by them.
Stokes is among the 36 players with the highest base price
of approximately $315,000. While buying him gives a team a perfect all-rounder,
having him also brings about the risk of losing him due to the case. The Englishman
is due to appear in Bristol Magistrates’ Court on the 13th of
February to answer against the charges placed on him by the Crown Prosecution
Service.
Stokes still holds the record of the most expensive foreign
player in the history of IPL. He was bought for a whopping $2.16 million last
year and repaid his worth by being the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
The IPL would surely be a better tournament with the England
international in the team.
Meanwhile, the IPL advisory have confirmed that Stokes has a
NOC from the England Cricket Board, but his legal team doesn’t believe that the
proceedings of the case will be concluded before the IPL. As a result, the
governing body of the IPL had to make the 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," the IPL advisory was quoted
saying on Cricinfo.
"Ben's legal advisors have advised that they think it
highly unlikely that the criminal proceedings will conclude before the end of
IPL 2018," the IPL told the franchises. "They have advised that they
do not expect the criminal proceedings will have any impact on Ben's
availability for IPL 2018.
"Due to the uncertainty regarding court dates and therefore his availability for the IPL 2018 season, BCCI confirms that if he is completely unavailable in advance of the season he may be replaced under section 6.1 (e) of the 2018-20 IPL Player Regulations."
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