NEWS
Follow UsBen Stokes said he knew well in advance that he would reverse his ODI retirement and feature in the upcoming World Cup in India. The 32-year-old announced his retirement from ODIs in July 2022, but many were expecting England’s hero of their 2019 World Cup triumph to return for the 2023 showpiece event.
The England Test captain didn’t play a single ODI for close to 14 months. On top of that, during the last Ashes series, the all-rounder said he would use the World Cup period to sort out his left knee injury.
However, two weeks later, Stokes was named in England's squad for their four-match series against New Zealand and in their provisional World Cup squad, and now owns the highest individual score for an England batter in men's ODIs.
"Obviously, I've been asked a lot about my knee over a long period of time, so I just said that to leave it. I knew that I'd be playing in these games and potentially in the World Cup then when I said that, but it was just the easiest thing to say that and put you (the press) off the radar,” said Stokes after England hammered New Zealand by 181 runs in the third ODI.
The left-hander has looked at home since his return to ODI cricket. Stokes scored 52 in his comeback game but was dismissed for 1 in the second ODI. Then came the third encounter and Stokes whacked 182 off 124 deliveries, studded with 15 fours and nine sixes, to let the world know he is well and truly back.
"I didn't really know (about the record) until the bloke on the tannoy announced it - then I got out next ball," he joked. Stokes also added that he understands he has more time to pace his innings in this format. You have way more time than you think. In terms of game awareness and game smartness, today was good for that.
"Today was good for me personally, just to get familiarity again with how 50-over cricket goes. We started off and lost a few quick wickets, then wanted to go out and put them under a bit of pressure. There were a couple of times I had to check myself because I looked up and there were still 23-24 overs left - that's how one-day cricket can go.
"The thing that I came to realise throughout the innings was how much time there actually is. There were a couple of stages where I was scoring quite freely and felt like I wanted to keep on going and going and going, but realising how many overs I had was the big thing for me."
Stokes hasn’t been bowling of late and it’s highly unlikely he will in the World Cup either, helping him focus more on his batting. “This is the first time that I've been clear in my mind that that's the one thing I can focus on. I think over the last 18 months, every day has been, 'will I bowl, will I not bowl?' Now, I know that I can just focus on that… that's my thing for the team now. Having that clarity in my head contributes to that.
"I'd prefer not to go in that early because I want to see the other lads at the top do well. I don't think I've necessarily changed my approach in one-day cricket from all the years I spent at No. 5 or 6… I still think that batting at No. 4, I'll go out with the exact same approach I had at No. 5."
