Stokes, 26, named player of last year's IPL, was charged with affray earlier this week in relation to an incident that occurred in Bristol last September. Stokes and two other men are due to front the Bristol Magistrates' Court at a date yet to be fixed. Following the announcement of the charges by the Crown Prosecution Service, the England and Wales Cricket Board issued a short statement to say the board would meet within 48 hours to determine Stokes' availability to represent England.

The England vice-captain was suspended by the ECB shortly after a police investigation into the incident began, meaning he missed the Ashes series, won 4-0 by Australia, as well as the one-day series being played this month. He has been named in England's squad for a Twenty20 tri-series next month featuring New Zealand and Australia, although his involvement was pending the outcome of the investigation.

The ECB had already announced Stokes would be allowed to participate in the IPL, which begins on April 4. However his involvement has been complicated by the likelihood an impending trial.

Helmot, an assistant at the IPL's Sunrisers Hyderabad, coached Stokes during the all-rounder's stint with the Melbourne Renegades three years ago. While he declined to comment on whether his club should seek to recruit Stokes, Helmot acknowledged that the uncertainty surrounding the Englishman presented challenges.

"I think in relation to IPL, teams and owners are always having to consider player availability," Helmot told Fairfax Media from Bangladesh, where he is head coach at the country's high performance academy.

"Over the last 10 years, teams have been really careful on who they select because they may have a person who needs to go off and play international cricket somewhere else.

"I suppose, in this particular case, in Ben's case, people are uncertain of what that all looks like so will probably want to gather as much information and knowledge to know what his availability is, and what the circumstances are."

If Stokes is picked up by an IPL club, he is likely to confront high-profile stars who have made strong comments about his involvement in cricket in recent months. Sunrisers captain David Warner said before the Ashes that Stokes had "let a lot of people down" with his actions, while Shane Watson, who is registered for the auction, and Mike Hussey, a batting coach with the Chennai Super Kings, are among the others who have been outspoken about Stokes' behaviour.

Helmot said that he could only speak from experience, heaping praise on Stokes from their time together at the Renegades. "The experience I had with Ben Stokes at the Renegades a few years ago, he was an outstanding teammate, an outstanding contributor, and did everything you'd expect from a professional overseas player to do," Helmot said.

Stokes is expected to fetch a huge price at the auction, on January 27-28, having set a record price of 14.5 crore??? ($2.8 million) when signed by the Rising Pune Supergiants last year. He has been placed at the maximum reserve price of 2 crore (just under $400,000) for this year's auction.

In a statement released on Twitter following the announcement of the charges, Stokes said he was "keen to have an opportunity to clear my name but on advice, the appropriate time to do this is when the case comes to trial".

"I want to thank all of those who have continued to support me in relation to the Bristol incident, not least my family, friends, fans and teammates," he wrote.

"I gave a full and detailed account of my actions to the police on day one - the same day as the incident - and have cooperated at each step of the police inquiry.

"The CPS' decision to charge me, as well as Ryan Ali and Ryan Hale [two members of the public], at least means that my account of what happened that night can come out in court and be made public. Until then, my focus is very much on cricket."

Born in Christchurch, Stokes had a brief stint playing for Canterbury in New Zealand domestic cricket in December.