Ben Stokes will not join IPL 2022 auction

Stokes joins Root in opting out of IPL 2022 auction. Instead, England's Test captain and vice-captain will play in the County Championship to prepare for the first Test of the summer against New Zealand at home.

Root indicated last week that he was debating whether to put his name forward for the auction for the second time after going unsold in 2018, and that he had decided against it following the Hobart Test.

"There's a lot that we need to do for this [Test] team, which deserves all of my energy," Root said. "I'll keep sacrificing as much as I can because I care so much about Test cricket in our country and trying to get us to where we want to be."

While Root, who hasn't performed in T20 international since May 2019, was far from certain to land a contract at the auction, Stokes had a much better chance. He won the IPL MVP award in 2017 while playing for Rising Pune Supergiant, and he was the most expensive player in the 2018 mega auction, signing a deal with RR (Rajasthan Royals) at INR 12.5 crore (about £1.4 million).