Test captain Ben Stokes has ruled himself out of England's T20 World Cup title defence in the United States and the West Indies, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced Tuesday.

The 32-year-old said he was missing the showpiece tournament in order to make sure he could be a fully-fledged all-rounder in Test cricket.

"Opting out of the IPL and the (T20) World Cup will hopefully be a sacrifice that allows me to be the all-rounder I want to be for the foreseeable future," Stokes said in an ECB statement.