NEWS
Follow UsBen Stokes, England’s hero from the 2022 T20 World Cup win, has announced his decision to opt out of the upcoming T20 World Cup event in the Caribbean and the United States of America. The all-rounder has pulled out of the tournament with an eye on regaining full fitness in the red-ball scheme.
The 32-year-old returned to the ODI side ahead of their World Cup defence last year in India. But that delayed his knee surgery, which meant that Stokes could largely only feature as a batter in the five-match Test series against India earlier in the year. Earlier last year, Stokes also informed the five-time IPL winners Chennai Super Kings of his unavailability, which was the reason behind the franchise releasing the star player.
"I'm working hard and focusing on building my bowling fitness back up to fulfil a full role as an allrounder in all formats of cricket," Stokes said in a statement released by the ECB on Tuesday.
"Opting out of the IPL and the World Cup will hopefully be a sacrifice that allows me to be the allrounder I want to be for the foreseeable future,” he added.
Stokes admitted that the tour of India showed the all-rounder how far he was behind from a bowling lens. While England expected the Durham man to be available for their title defence, they would now have to find other avenues to fill the Stokes-sized gap in their setup.
"The recent Test tour of India highlighted how far behind I was from a bowling point of view after my knee surgery and nine months without bowling. I'm looking forward to playing for Durham in the County Championship before the start of our Test summer. I wish Jos [Buttler], Motty [Matthew Mott] and all the team the best of luck in defending our title."
