As England look to bounce back from their loss at Rajkot, a question that has been on the minds of cricketing fans is regarding the return of Ben Stokes, the bowler. An all-rounder by trade, Stokes has the ability to get wickets but he has refrained from bowling since his injury which he picked up his knee injury.
The skipper subtly hinted that he is getting ever so closer to being fit enough to return to fast-bowling action. “I’m not saying yes, I’m not saying no,” Stokes responded to a question on his potential return to bowling for England.
Stokes had last bowled during the Ashes 2023 in the second Test at Lord’s. Since then he has not been able to bowl in the longest format for his side.
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“Me being me, I’m always very optimistic about most things. That will be a more detailed chat with the medical team about what workload I have done to pass me off as not being a massive risk,” said Stokes.
He also revealed the extent of his conditioning in terms of bowling where he said that he was able to bowl during the warm-up days as well.
“I managed to bowl at 100 percent in one of the warm-up days here which made me feel pretty good. I felt like I could have bowled in the game but that would have been stupid,” added Stokes.
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The head coach of the England Test team, Brendon McCullum remains focused on the upcoming Test at Ranchi and believes that the squad he currently has is enough to get the job done. McCullum also emphasised, evaluating the conditions and the condition of his players before deciding on their line-up.
“So we’ve got a really good squad to pick from. We just need to work out when we get there what conditions we’re going to be confronted with and see the health of the army, and then decide on what we go with,” said McCullum.
The coach remains happy with the captain’s fitness improving but believes that he does not see Stokes picking up the ball unless he is confident of being able to bowl to the best of his abilities.
“Well, it’s good that he’s getting into a state where he thinks he might bowl,” McCullum said. But Ben is clever; he’s clever as well. He won’t bowl unless he thinks he’s legitimately able to bowl. The problem would be if he starts getting into a spell and then he can’t get out of the spell,” added McCullum.
McCullum remains focused on evaluating the condition of Ben Stokes and making sure he will be ready to take the workload of bowling in the Indian condition, rather than risking his captain to another injury.
“If he does get that bit between his teeth, then let’s see where the danger lies there and try and pull him away from it. But it’s a good sign,” McCullum concluded.
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