England and Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Ben Stokes, who was ruled out of the remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL) due to a finger injury, has been sidelined for up to three months, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed on Friday.
ECB also informed that a repeat X-ray and CT scan on Thursday revealed that Stokes has a fracture of his left index finger and the all-rounder will fly home on Saturday for the surgery.
“England all-rounder Ben Stokes will be out for up to 12 weeks after a repeat X-ray and CT scan on Thursday revealed that he has a fracture of his left index finger,” the ECB said in an official statement.
“Stokes, who is currently in India with Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League, will fly home tomorrow. He will have surgery in Leeds on Monday,” the statement further
read.
The England all-rounder had sustained the injury during the game against Punjab Kings on Monday. The incident occurred during the Punjab innings as Stokes went forward to complete the catch off Punjab batsman Chris Gayle.
Stokes was visibly in pain even though he did come out to bat in the Rajasthan innings—a match which the Sanju Samson-led side lost by four runs.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals clinched a thrilling win over Delhi Capitals, thanks to David Miller’s 62-run knock followed by Chris Morris’ cameo at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday. With 27 needed off the final two overs, Morris stepped up to the occasion to take his side over the line with two balls to spare. He hit two sixes off Kagiso Rabada’s penultimate over and accumulated 15 runs from it.