Can't Put A Date On When I'll Be Back Playing Again: Ben Stokes

England all-rounder Ben Stokes on Wednesday said that he and other England players may not be able to join their Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises on resumption of the T20 tournament.

The IPL 2021 was postponed due to Covid-19 cases inside the tournament bio-bubble. It has not been announced when the remainder of the league will resume or will be played at all.

"We don't know if or when the tournament will be rearranged, but as the ECB has said it could be difficult for the England boys to have a free gap," Stokes wrote in his column for mirror.co.uk.

"After this year though, I do look forward to playing a full part again at some point in the future," he added.

The England all-rounder said that he is recovering well from the injury to his index finger for which he underwent surgery.

"I can't put a date on when I'll be back playing again, but as long as things progress as well as they have then I should hope it will be well before the three months that was first feared and more like seven, eight, or nine weeks," the star of the 2019 World Cup final wrote.

Stokes represented Rajasthan Royals in the IPL but had to pull out in the early stage of the tournament this year because of the injury.

"It was tough to say goodbye to the guys at the Rajasthan Royals earlier than I wanted, but the subsequent suspension of the tournament means that everyone is now back early with their families."