The England and Wales Cricket Board were left with no choice but to call on Ben Stokes back who was performing relatively well for his county Durham in the T20 Blast. Rushed on to the captaincy following an overhaul of the squad due to Covid-19 cases in the England camp, Stokes believes that he and the entire new squad will still take the field in the entire series as the number one English side.
"The one thing that I told myself to make sure that I told the team, is that although this has been a very quick turnaround of events, in terms of having to pick a new squad, no matter what name is on the back of the England shirt we are walking out there as the No 1 team," Stokes said in a virtual press conference on the eve of the first ODI scheduled to be played in Cardiff on July 8.
The 31-year-old New Zealand born said that it is a great opportunity for the young cricketers to showcase that they deserve the call that they have got.
"That's an exciting thing to say you are a part of, whether you are an experienced player, a young player or someone who has come into the group for the first time. Situations like these are so rare. You've got an opportunity here to represent your country and let's all just do it with a big smile on our face and just enjoy it as much as we can as a group."
Stokes, who has so far played 71 Tests, 98 ODIs and 34 T20Is believe that the experience of County cricket would help the nine uncapped English players in the squad.
"One of the reasons for County Cricket is to put your name in the hat for an England call up - although you don't normally go picking 16 new players in a space of a couple of days!," Chuckled the Durham player.
"The guys who have been picked have put their hand up in county cricket and deserve to be in this situation, albeit through extreme circumstances. But everyone warrants their place in the squad," added Stokes.
The all-rounder, hero of the 2019 World Cup shares a funny incident as to how his wife reacted to the call-up.
"After the call happened my wife sent me a screenshot of an article saying 'England aren't going to rush Ben Stokes back'. It's one of these situations that's an example of 'if you don't laugh you'll cry'," said Stokes, who has 7890 international runs and 254 wickets.
Earlier, ECB confirmed that the whole new squad and staff have tested negative ahead of Thursday's first ODI against Pakistan.