New Delhi: England Test team captain Ben Stokes has been ruled out of cricket for at least three months due to a hamstring injury during the New Zealand tour. This is another setback in Stokes’ injury-plagued career.
Stokes was injured during the third Test in Hamilton, and post-tour assessment confirmed its seriousness. Stokes, 33, will undergo surgery in January, although it is expected that it will not affect his Test career much, as the team will not play red-ball cricket until the end of May. Stokes was already dropped from England’s ODI squad for the ICC Champions Trophy in February.
Before the persistent injury, Stokes was considered one of the greatest all-rounders in the cricket world. Later, the injury affected his bowling a lot. At present, Stokes is struggling to make consistent contributions as both a batsman and a bowler. Stokes posted on social media platform X on Monday night, “There are a few more hurdles to overcome … here we go again! I have a lot left in this tank and a lot more blood, sweat and tears to shed for my team and this jersey.” It is known that this is Stokes’ second hamstring injury in the second half of 2024, he was also taken out while playing in England’s Hundred competition. This injury ruled him out of Sri Lanka’s home Test series and the first Test on the tour of Pakistan. England are sixth in the World Test Championship table for the 2023-2025 cycle, achieving 43.18% of possible points in 22 Test matches. This means that England, the leader of badball cricket, is once again unable to reach the final at Lord’s. The race to play the final match is currently between South Africa, Australia and India.
