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Will Ben Stokes Bowl In Test Series Vs India? Check Latest Update

image-lq10u1qcEngland Cricket Team (X.com)

Widely endorsed as one of the greatest all-rounders in world cricket, Englishman Ben Stokes has scaled new heights since he set foot in international cricket in 2009. However, as time passed, the all-rounder struggled with injuries as the workload of three formats got the better of him.

Recently, Stokes injured his knee during the ICC Mens ODI World Cup 2023, for which surgery was imperative. Subsequently, the Englishman went under the knife last week and has been under rehabilitation ever since. 

Meanwhile, the England cricket board released its 16-men squad for the upcoming five-game test series against India, and surprisingly, Stokes made the cut within less than two weeks after he underwent gruesome surgery. 

England director of Cricket Rob Key explained that Stokes' surgery was successful, and the board's medical staff expects the all-rounder to be fit by the first test scheduled for the 25th of January in Hyderabad. 

However, he will play as a pure batter and avoid bowling to reduce unnecessary stress on his injured knee. 

That being said, the Englishman has put bowling duties on the back burner for a while now. He rarely logged overs during the Ashes series held earlier this year, and even in the ODI World Cup, Stokes was selected as a pure batter.

Needless to say, the lack of extra bowling options will hurt the English side as they already will be without Stuart Broad as the latter retired after the Ashes.

However, ECB trusted the spinners to do the job for the English side for the particular tour in question. Jack Leach, Rehan Ahmed, and uncapped pair Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir are the four spinners on the 16-men squad, whereas Jimmy Anderson, Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood, and uncapped Gus Atkinson are the only full-time qualified seamers on the lineup.


England's Full Squad

Ben Stokes (captain), Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Mark Wood