"Rehab with hamstrings is incredibly boring": England Test captain Ben Stokes

London [UK], September 4 : Test captain Ben Stokes has found recovering from his hamstring injury "incredibly boring," and the injury could force him to miss out on England's next month's tour of Pakistan.
Stokes was sidelined from England's ongoing three-match Test series against Sri Lanka after suffering a tear in his left hamstring while featuring for the Northern Superchargers against Manchester Originals. Stokes was spotted on crutches after the game.
Ollie Pope was named the stand-in captain for England's ongoing series against the Asian side. He could be in contention to continue with the role if Stokes fails to get fit in time.
According to ESPNcricinfo, Stokes batted in the nets on the Nursery Ground during the second Test at Lord's to ensure his footwork didn't get rusty.
However, with the high risk of aggravating the injury looming around Stokes, the ECB medical team is not rushing to rush the experienced all-rounder to fitness.
"The recurrence rate of these injuries is 50 per cent, which is quite high. I'd rather take an extra two weeks than run the risk of potentially doing something worse and then putting myself out of the game for longer. I'm just making sure that I'm doing everything right and everything I possibly can to try and give myself a chance to be fit for that first Test," Stokes told ESPNcricinfo at the Red Bull Gaming Sphere in London.
"I got told straight away that, within a couple of days, you'll feel good as gold. That doesn't mean that it's healed. So you have to be careful. I've stayed around the team because I wanted to be here, but as well, so I'm around the medical team every day. Because anything that I can do, even if it gives me a chance of being back three or four days earlier than initially thought, it's done its job," he added.
While talking about his ongoing rehab, Stokes has found it incredibly boring to recover from the hamstring injury and manage his workload.
"Rehab with hamstrings is incredibly boring, I've found out. It's the first one I've done, and I can't really do that much except walk around. I've just started doing some double-leg stuff, so I can load my left leg now," he said.
"The doctor, our physio and our S&C [strength and conditioning] coach are trying their hardest to rein me back in. I'm constantly saying, 'Oh, can we do some running next week? Can I play golf tomorrow?' It's all a bit of wind-up," he added.
England will begin their three-match Test tour against Pakistan on October 7 in Multan. Before heading to Pakistan, England will play the final Test against Sri Lanka on Friday at The Oval.