Root follows Stokes and withdraws from IPL 2024

Joe Root has followed England Test captain Ben Stokes by withdrawing from next year’s Indian Premier League.

Stokes made himself unavailable for the lucrative T20 tournament on November 23 to manage his workload and fitness.

England batter Root, 32, played three times for Rajasthan Royals in last year’s tournament but batted only once.

Royals director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara said: “We respect his decision totally and wish him success in everything he does.”

Yorkshire’s Root, who signed a three-year central contract with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) last month, played every game of the recent World Cup in India.

He is also set to be an integral part of England’s team for their five-Test tour of India which starts on January 25 in Hyderabad.

ECB managing director of men’s cricket Rob Key said former captain Root needed a “break” when he was left out of the limited-overs squad for next month’s series with West Indies.

The Royals bought Root for £100,000 at the 2023 mini-auction, his first stint in the IPL – but he scored 10 from 15 balls in his only innings.

Sangakkara said: “Even in a short span of time, Joe was able to create such a positive impact on the franchise and the players around him.

“His energy around the group and the experience he brought to the Royals will be missed.”

Root has scored 11,416 Test runs at an average of 50.29 and needs 1,057 more to overtake Sir Alastair Cook as England’s all-time leading scorer in Test cricket.

Archer and Brook released

Fast bowler Jofra Archer and batter Harry Brook were the most high-profile England players to be released by their franchises before the IPL retention deadline of November 26.

Archer played five games for Mumbai Indians in 2023 – he took two wickets – but has struggled with injury in recent years and missed the World Cup.

Sunrisers Hyderabad released Brook, who made a hundred against Kolkata Knight Riders but managed only 90 runs in 10 other innings.

Adil Rashid (Sunrisers), Chris Jordan (Mumbai) and Phil Salt (Delhi Capitals) were the other England players released and will re-enter the auction pool.

England white-ball captain Jos Buttler has been retained by Rajhastan, while Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone will remain at Punjab Kings.

Moeen Ali was retained by Chennai Super Kings, as were Jason Roy at Kolkata and Mark Wood at Lucknow Super Giants. Bangalore have kept hold of Will Jacks and Reece Topley.

The IPL auction will be held in Dubai on December 19. (BBC Sport)