England all-rounder Ben Stokes has revealed why he chose not to participate in the IPL 2022 super auction. In an interview with Daily Mirror Stokes stated that Test cricket is his first objective and that he wants to help Root rebuild the team.

"Test cricket is my top priority, and I want to work with Joe Root, the greatest captain we could have. It is for this reason that I deliberated long and hard about whether or not to attend the IPL and felt that it was not about money but about where my values lie. It wouldn't be fair to whatever squad I joined up for if I wasn't completely focused on I wasn’t totally focused on things out there," said Stokes

"I believe that playing a few County Championship matches this summer and getting myself as best prepared as possible for the challenges of New Zealand and South Africa," he continued.

Stokes played in the IPL in 2017 and was awarded the tournament's Most Valuable Player after hitting 316 runs and taking 12 wickets for the Rising Pune Supergiants. The Rajasthan Royals then selected him in the IPL 2018 auction for INR 12.50 crores. Stokes performed admirably for the team in the IPL 2019 and had a strong showing in the IPL 2020, scoring a century.

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However, an injury cut short his IPL 2021 campaign, and he has now opted to opt-out of the IPL 2022 auction after being released by the Rajasthan franchise.

Stokes, Joe Root, Sam Curran, and Chris Woakes were not participating in the auction. On the other hand, Jos Buttler has been retained by the Rajasthan Royals, while Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, and Mark Wood will be up for mega auction in Bengaluru.