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Stuart Broad feared Ben Stokes would call time on his England career

image-l75yp86aBroad feared of Stokes quitting cricket in 2021 (PC: Twitter)

England's premier pacer Stuart Broad had feared that Ben Stokes would be quitting cricket in 2021 due to his mental health issues. 

Stokes took a break from international cricket in June 2021 to prioritise mental health, amid rising panic and anxiety concerns. It was due to the aftermath of the Bristol incident in 2017 and his father's death in 2020. 

However, the skilful all-rounder returned to international cricket in December 2021, after a gap of around nine months.

Ahead of the release of the documentary titled, 'Ben Stokes: Phoenix from the Ashes', Stokes revealed that Broad feared not witnessing him again in international cricket. 

Didn't realize it was that bad: Stokes on Broad's comment

"One of the more powerful things about that, that I notice from the film, was when [England pace bowler] Stuart Broad said he could see me not playing again," said Stokes. 

"I had never spoken to Stuart about that through my time away. I spoke to him a lot through that period but just general chit-chat, nothing too serious.

"I had never said the words to him but the fact that he got that feeling was an eye-opener to me that at that time, things were quite bad."

Stokes wants people to know him as a person

image-l75ynlqjStokes ahead of his documentary release (PC: Twitter)

The 31-year-old thinks the general public have an opinion of him based on his actions on the cricket field or press conferences. However, through his documentary, Stokes wants the people to walk away knowing more about him. 

Furthermore, the England red-ball skipper added that he has made a real effort to be genuine in opening up about his problems in the documentary. 

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