NEW DELHI: England Test captain Ben Stokes may have reconsidered his decision to retire from one-day internationals (ODIs) in order to participate in the World Cup. However, he expressed the need to carefully contemplate his future in the 50-over format following an upcoming knee surgery.
Stokes is scheduled to undergo surgery on his troublesome left knee later this month, with a tight timeline to recover in time for a demanding schedule ahead. The first challenge on the horizon is the five-match series in India, commencing on January 25 in Hyderabad.
"I'm Test captain, got a lot of stuff coming up," Stokes told Sky Sports on whether he would like to remain in England's scheme of things for their ODI team reboot.
"There's a lot of stuff that I want to do with that Test team and that'll be a decision that probably I'll have to think about quite hard," he said.
Stokes also has a million and half pound IPL contract with CSK and he would need to check out on his workload.
"It goes back to my initial reason for stepping away from this format, (it) was just through workload... But who knows where everything is?
"I've a bit of a clean-out coming up so you never know, the body might be in a lot better position than it was in the last 18 months," he said after guiding England to a 93-run win over Pakistan in their last match of the ongoing World Cup here on Saturday.
Due to his persistent knee issues, Stokes took on the role of a specialist batter and had to sit out the first of the three matches due to a hip injury.
Despite these challenges, he emerged as England's second-highest run-scorer in the series, accumulating 304 runs in six matches, including one century and two fifties—all achieved in the final three matches.
Despite a rough start in the tournament, where the 2019 champions found themselves at the bottom of the table with a series of five defeats, they managed to conclude the World Cup on a positive note. The team secured a spot in the 2025 Champions Trophy after securing consecutive victories.
Stokes is now focused on undergoing the necessary surgery to address his health concerns and aims to regain fitness in time for the upcoming Test series against India.
"You never know the body might be in a lot better position than it was in the last 18 months. I put a lot of hard work away from cricket to give myself the best chance of a quicker recovery."
"The main thing to me is getting this knee right and being ready to go and raring to go for that Test series in India," he added.
(With PTI inputs)
