England Test captain Ben Stokes has been signed by MI Cape Town for the upcoming season of SA20, the franchise confirmed on Wednesday.
Announcing their overseas signings for SA20 2025, MI Cape Town confirmed rumours from earlier this month as true. Ben Stokes will indeed take part in season three of the competition. They had announced their set of retained domestic players two weeks ago.
Stokes has been a valuable prospect for franchise sides around the world for a long time, as an aggressive batter who is also capable of chipping in with high-quality pace bowling. However, injuries have been a feature of his career, and as captain, he has lately been more central to England's Test cricket plans.
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The SA20 is set to run from January 9 to February 8 in 2025, meaning it will clash with England's white-ball tour of India. Stokes will, in all likelihood, miss that series to play for MI Cape Town.
Stokes had retired from ODI cricket ahead of the 2023 World Cup, before reversing his decision to eventually take part in what turned out to be a torrid tournament for England. He also sat out the T20 World Cup in June, but led England in the recently concluded Test series against the West Indies at home. There, he made a return to bowling in the longest format as well.
Stokes is currently injured, having torn his hamstring in action for Northern Superchargers during The Hundred. He has been confirmed to miss the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka and is reportedly aiming to return in October for England's tour of Pakistan.
Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the remainder of England's Test summer, after scans confirmed he picked up a tear to his left hamstring in Sunday's Hundred fixture.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) August 13, 2024
Ollie Pope will captain England in his absence.
READ: https://t.co/FUOYLZNpTq#ENGvSL pic.twitter.com/r3xTJnNl27
Trent Boult, Azmatullah Omarzai also set to join MI Cape Town
MI Cape Town's other two new overseas signings were New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult and Afghanistan seam-bowling all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai. This is the fourth time Boult will be representing a franchise owned by the Indiawin Sports group, after Mumbai Indians in the IPL, MI Emirates in the ILT20 and MI New York in Major League Cricket (MLC).
Omarzai will join compatriot Rashid Khan, who was retained by MI Cape Town for the 2025 season. He has just completed a season with the Montreal Tigers in the Global T20 Canada.
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