Ben Stokes hinted at a possible reversal in his decision to retire from one-day internationals (ODIs) less than five months after announcing his retirement in July, citing the heavy workload he was under as the reason.
Ben Stokes, England’s star all-rounder, has not ruled out returning from ODI retirement to help the team defend its 50-over World Cup crown in India next year. The 31-year-old England Test skipper has left the door open for a future U-turn after announcing his retirement from ODIs in July, blaming pressure on his workload. “Who knows how I could feel about a World Cup at the moment,” Stokes was reported as saying on the ESPNcricinfo website.
On Thursday, the first Test match between Australia and Pakistan got underway, and he was speaking to the media in preparation. Stokes was a major reason why England triumphed in both the 50-over World Cup final and the Twenty20 World Cup final in 2019.
In 2023, India will host the next 50-over World Cup in the months of October and November.
“Something like that just happens sometimes. Participating in the World Cup as a member of your country’s official team is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity “The man spoke up and explained.
“I don’t even want to think about that right now. I’m concentrating totally on this series (against Pakistan).” Stokes was one of the English players who missed Wednesday’s practice due to a viral outbreak.
After their triumph in the T20 tournament, Stokes said director of cricket Rob Key approached him about playing in the 50-over World Cup.
He drew me aside, and when he mentioned the “50-over World Cup,” Stokes said, “I simply walked away.”
Stokes had already warned authorities about the excessive demands placed on cricket players to participate in several formats when he announced his retirement from ODIs.
He made this statement in July: “There is too much cricket crammed in for individuals to play all three formats currently.”
We’re not vehicles; it’s not enough to load us up with fuel and send us back out into the world; we’ll need to be refueled once we’ve used it all up. He had already shot down rumors that he could return to participate in the 50-over World Cup.
He had previously stated that he would not return to this format because “it wouldn’t be fair on anyone who gets that opportunity with me not playing this format now to suddenly be like, ‘Yeah, I’ll come back.'”
