England's Ben Stokes likely to call off his ODI retirement ahead of World Cup
Aug 14, 2023
London [UK] August 14 : Ben Stokes is considering returning to ODI cricket, ending his retirement from the format ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, as the report of UK Telegraph suggests.
Stokes had retired from the one-day international last year, however, according to UK Telegraph, Stokes could reconsider joining the team for the World Cup stint if England's ODI captain Jos Buttler asks him.
Stokes suffered a knee injury in New Zealand in February, forcing him to miss most of the Indian Premier League season. Despite being ready to captain England in the Ashes, he was primarily limited to batting owing to the injury, bowling only 29 overs in five matches.
Stokes is reportedly willing to miss the Indian Premier League (IPL) contract, worth £1.6 million, in order to support England defend the World Cup title.
The 31-year-old is remembered for his Player-of-the-Match performance in the 2019 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup final at Lord's where his unbeaten 84 helped to send the match into a Super Over as England claimed their first ICC Men's Cricket World Cup title in the most thrilling of circumstances.
Stokes retired in July 2022 and, following the Ashes, repeated his desire to remain retired from the 50-over format in order to be fit for the Test series against India in early 2024.
Nonetheless, Stokes has continually proven his worth as a specialised batter. England's white-ball coach, Matthew Mott is willing to include him in the World Cup squad solely on the basis of his batting ability."Jos Buttler will probably lead the way on that communication, but Ben’s pretty straight with all of us. We will see if he’s keen," Matthew Mott was quoted as saying by ICC on Sunday.
"There has not been a clear direction on what he’s going to do yet, but we are still hopeful. I’ve always said his bowling would be a bonus, but just look at what he brings with the bat, even in the field. Watching him throughout the whole Ashes series, he had such a great presence. He’s done it for years when it comes to performing in one-day cricket and so he’s an invaluable commodity," he added.
Ben Stokes was one of the heroes for England in the 2019 edition, winning the Player of the Match in the Final for his memorable unbeaten 84.
The World Cup kicks off on 5 October with defending Champions England taking on New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
