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Eoin Morgan confirms Ben Stokes' absence from India's tour of England

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England limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan confirmed that Ben Stokes would not be part of the ODI and T20 series against India.


Stokes last played a white-ball series against Pakistan in July 2021 when he had to return from a sudden injury due to a COVID-19 outbreak at the England camp.


The charismatic English allrounder had been appointed the new captain of the England men's Test team by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), succeeding Joe Root in the role.


The 2019 World Cup winning captain recently confirmed in an interview with the Daily Mail that Stokes will focus on Test cricket only till the winter and will not be considered for the white ball games during India's tour of England starting next month.


"Ben won't play white ball this summer. We just want him to go off and be himself as Test captain as it's a huge responsibility. So I don't want Ben this summer, and I want him in November. That's when our race will be run," Eoin Morgan told Daily Mail in an interview.


Morgan also dropped a hint regarding trying new players for the T20Is against India to see the depth of the county cricket.


"The India T20s will be a great gauge of where we're at, but the rest of the summer will be a delve into the depth of what we have in county cricket considering the injuries we have with bowlers,"


When asked about his future, Morgan denied speculations of stepping down from his role of leading the white ball team until the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.


"I'm always looking at my future. I'm very honest about where the team need to go, but if at any stage I haven't got the drive or don't think I'm contributing enough, I'll be upfront about it. The 50-over World Cup next year is a long way away, so I can't comment on that now. The goal is the T20 World Cup," Morgan said.


"If you had asked me two years ago, I would have said yes (to Buttler being a shoo-in as captain), but equally, guys like Moeen Ali and Chris Jordan have been very strong leaders. I haven't mentioned Ben Stokes because I think he should solely focus on his big job at hand, but we do have a number of candidates," Morgan concluded.


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