By Matt Hardy
England Test captain Ben Stokes has missed a third consecutive Indian Premier League game for the Chennai Super Kings having suffered a toe injury, raising some concern over whether the talismanic player will be able to play the entirety of this summer’s Ashes.
Stokes had said he would fulfil his IPL contract – worth £1.6m – despite nursing a long-term knee injury but the addition of a toe problem could cast doubt on his involvement against Australia later this year.
The 31-year-old did travel to Bangalore with his team, however, and bowled a limited number of balls in the warm-up.
Stokes on a mission to make Ashes
“I’m not going to lie, it has been very frustrating knowing something has been holding me back from performing as I’d like to,” Stokes previously said of his knee injury following the Test series in New Zealand in February.
“Don’t worry, I’m going to the IPL. I’ve had conversations with Stephen Fleming [head coach at CSK] and he’s fully aware of the situation with my body at the moment. It’s a week by week case at the moment.”
England are overwhelming favourites for this year’s Ashes amid a resurrection of Test cricket in England thanks to Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum’s revolutionary approach to the five-day game.
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