Captain Ben Stokes has revealed that he chose not to participate in the recent Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction in Jeddah to extend his England career. Stokes had previously played for Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS), Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL, and was named the most valuable player of the tournament in 2017. Stokes was a notable omission from the list of England players in the auction, and under new rules, if he had pulled out after being acquired by a team in the mega auction, provided it was for legitimate reasons, he would not have been eligible to participate in the next two seasons of the competition.