Ben Stokes, the leading all-round player for England, may have to transition into a bowler sooner rather than later in the current Test series against India, in an unexpected development.
After England’s latest loss, Ben Stokes, who had knee surgery in November, is now thinking about going back to his dual role as an all-rounder. Originally, Stokes had ruled out bowling during the series.
“I’m not responding positively or negatively. Being me, I’m usually really upbeat about most things. That will include a more thorough discussion about my workload with the medical staff in order to convince them that I don’t pose a serious risk. On one of these warm-up days, I was able to bowl at 100%, which gave me a fantastic feeling. According to ESPNcricinfo, Stokes stated, “I felt like I could have bowled in the game, but that would have been stupid.”
The head coach of England, Brendon McCullum, was equally upbeat about Ben Stokes possible comeback to bowling.
It’s encouraging that he’s genuinely approaching the point where he considers bowing. However, Ben is not just intelligent, he’s incredibly clever. If he doesn’t believe he can bowl legitimately, he won’t bowl. The issue arises if he begins to cast a spell and is unable to break out of it. So, we’ll have to wait and see.
In the event that he does get that bit between his teeth, let’s try to yank him away from it and assess where the danger is. However, it’s encouraging,” McCullum remarked.
Should Stokes decide to resume bowling, it has the potential to greatly improve England’s team composition. With just one seamer and a heavy reliance on spinners, the side encountered difficulties in the first two Test matches. With his ability to bowl bouncers and reverse swing, Stokes’ return as an all-rounder might give the squad additional alternatives.
Two excellent possibilities are available to us off the field: McCullum
England faces a selection conundrum ahead of the next Test in Ranchi, as fast bowlers James Anderson and Mark Wood are probably worn out after the third Test. With Stokes perhaps making a comeback to bowling, England might end up with two seamers and four spin options. Ollie Robinson is anticipated to enter the game, giving the team more depth.
McCullum highlighted Ollie Robinson and Gus Atkinson as two excellent possibilities on the sidelines while expressing confidence in the team’s decisions. He emphasized the team’s strong roster, adding that before selecting the starting lineup, they must first determine the playing conditions on the field and the fitness of each player.
Ollie Robinson and Gus Atkinson are two excellent alternatives we have on the sidelines. Thus, we have a really strong roster from which to choose. All we have to do is figure out what conditions we’ll face when we get there and assess the army’s condition before deciding what to do.
“Clearly, we haven’t yet witnessed Ranchi’s conditions. It might spin, in my opinion. It should spin, I suppose, but we’ll find out when we get there. But look, we’re pretty happy with our current roster and have no plans to enlarge it. We have a bunch of guys here who have performed exceptionally well in the last three Test matches, and we will support whichever starting eleven we choose. Hopefully, things will be different from where they are right now,” McCullum continued.
India
