Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler still preparing for IPL despite uncertainty over start date

The competition has been pushed back until at least April 15 but the England pair, who are due to represent Rajasthan Royals, are seemingly unperturbed

• IPL in further doubt as India goes into lockdown
• May start would make IPL "impossible"

England pair Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler are both working on the assumption the Indian Premier League will begin next month despite the uncertainty over the staging of the competition due to the coronavirus pandemic.

India is in lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak until April 14 - the day before the rescheduled tournament is set to kick-off - and it remains to be seen whether the 13th edition does indeed go ahead.

The BCCI remain confident the competition will go ahead but discussions over the format remain ongoing. The organisers have admitted that it will not start beyond early May.

With the United Kingdom in partial lockdown, Rajasthan Royals duo Stokes and Buttler have been documenting their efforts to keep their fitness ticking at home over via social media, in the event the IPL does take place.

View this post on Instagram

A-45 sec plank N-25 squats D-10 burpees R-15 push up’s E-1 min walk sit W-20 burpees

A post shared by Ben Stokes (@stokesy) on Mar 24, 2020 at 6:51am PDT

"At the moment my next competitive cricket is going to be the IPL because that hasn't changed yet," Durham allrounder Stokes told BBC Radio Five Live.

"So I have to think that I'm going to be playing cricket on April 20.

"I have to get my head around that I am playing, even though in the back of my mind I know I'm probably not.

"I still have to build up and get myself physically in a position that if it does happen, I'm good to go, because I can't just take three weeks off and expect everything body-wise to get going again for April 20. It doesn't work like that."

View this post on Instagram

Here’s 5 simple pilates exercises to do at home. A quick 20 minutes before a glass of wine and a film on a Friday night. Enjoy 😘 @josbuttler

A post shared by LB Pilates (@lbpilates.ldn) on Mar 20, 2020 at 12:28pm PDT

Lancashire 'keeper Buttler added on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast: "We saw that initially, it was going to be postponed until April 15, but I think at the moment everything seems very indefinite, doesn't it?" Buttler said.

"It's very hard to see this [situation] changing in the immediate future, so I don't see that as a possibility at the moment. But as we know, things can hopefully change for the positive quickly as well.

"That's such a massive tournament for world cricket, so hopefully it becomes a situation where some of it [can be played] or it can become a shortened tournament, or something can go ahead."