'Ben Stokes Is Like Spiritual Leader' - England Head Coach Matthew Mott

image-lnv8dtyvBen Stokes could play against SA on October 21 [X.com]

Defending champions England are having a rough time in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, having lost games and won one, including a loss against Afghanistan on Sunday.

The Jos Buttler-led side will face an uphill task on October 21, when they take on South Africa in Mumbai, who themselves will be hurting after a loss against Netherlands. In an attempt to uplift the morale, star all-rounder Ben Stokes urged his teammates to play more aggressively after the loss against Afghanistan. 

Stokes, who is racing against time to regain fitness, has been out due to a hip niggle, which white-ball head coach Matthew Mott stated is nearly healed.

As quoted by ESPNcricinfo, Stokes, who is becoming England's team spiritual leader is targeting a return against the Proteas, having played a proactive role behind the scenes lately. 

Here's what Mott said

"We've obviously been relatively conservative with him, but the medical staff were always confident that South Africa was a game we could target. I haven't had a report on him in the last 24 hours, but before that, he was on target. So fingers crossed, he can tick off all the things that need to be ticked off and he comes back into that side. 

He's like the spiritual leader of the group in many ways, and he certainly spoke really well after the game the other day, and spoke about that need to really assert ourselves. Stokesy came in on the back of that and just really reinforced what was a great message - particularly someone who was sitting on the bench, and had a bit of a different lens,

With six games remaining, England cannot afford another stumble, as a few more losses will make their chances of reaching the semi-finals bleak.