IPL 2021: Stokes' hand injury raises doubt over his participation

New Delhi [India], April 13 (ANI): In what comes as a terrible news for Rajasthan Royals, star all-rounder Ben Stokes may have to watch quite a few Indian Premier League games from the sideline after hurting his hand during the game against Punjab Kings on Monday. RR will be keeping fingers crossed that he isn't ruled out of the entire season with a broken hand.
Speaking to ANI, sources in the know of developments said that Stokes went for scans and the reports aren't too positive.
"Too early to say if he will be out of whole season, but the hand doesn't look very good. Let's see how it goes," the source pointed.
The incident occurred during the Punjab innings as Stokes went forward to complete the catch off Chris Gayle. He was visibly in pain even though he did come out to bat in the Rajasthan innings.
In the match, Sanju Samson's fighting hundred went in vain as Arshdeep Singh held his nerves in the final over to help Punjab Kings register a thrilling win over Rajasthan Royals here at the Wankhede.
KL Rahul's calm and composed knock, aided by Deepak Hooda's belligerent hitting, helped Punjab Kings post 221 in the allotted 20 overs. In response, Rajasthan Royals fell just four runs short of the target to clinch the game.
With Stokes back in the hut, Jos Buttler and Samson had revived Rajasthan Royals' innings before the English batsman lost the plot and got out in the eighth over.
However, Samson and Riyan Parag didn't give up and kept fighting as the duo smashed 13 and 20 runs in the 15th and 16th over. Samson took on Richardson and whacked him for 19 runs in the 18th over as the equation came down to 21 off two overs.
Samson, who smashed 119 off 63 balls, kept fighting till the end but wasn't able to get the job done for the Royals as Punjab Kings clinched a thriller on the last ball.
Rajasthan will next play Delhi Capitals on Thursday. (ANI)