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'It's Great to Have Superstar Like Ben Stokes in World Cup': Jos Buttler

image-llxjvqphButtler welcomes the addition of Stokes in WC squad [Twitter]

A few days ago, England all-rounder Ben Stokes reversed his decision to retire from ODIs in order to play the World Cup in India later this year.

Stokes had announced retirement to be able to manage his workload better, and give more time to the game's longest format. But he later decided to play ODIs at least until the World Cup, and help England defend their title.

Stokes' decision was positively welcomed by skipper Jos Buttler, who stated that the return of their biggest match-winner is a massive boost for England's title defence.

Here's what Buttler said

"It's excellent news on all fronts, it's great for cricket to have a superstar like Ben Stokes in a World Cup," Buttler was quoted as saying by Skysports.

"You want to see those players in those major showpiece events so it's fantastic that he's made himself available. When a player of that calibre is available again, it's a no-brainer really that you want them back in your team," the England captain added.

The performance delivered by Stokes in the 2019 World Cup final remains one of his best across formats. His unbeaten 84 took the match into a Super Over as England lifted the World Cup title in one of the most thrilling games in history.

Stokes will be returning to the ODI format only as a specialist batter and will not be bowling.

Buttler also revealed that during the IPL earlier this year, Stokes told him that his main priority was to win the Ashes but if his body permitted, he would want to be considered for the World Cup.

"Ben and I caught up during the IPL, had some good conversations about what he wanted to achieve in the year, so him coming to me and saying that the Ashes is his main priority, but if he could come through that physically he'd like to be considered for the World Cup," he said.

"So I just left it at that and said you let me know after the Ashes how you're feeling. We spoke after that, he said he'd be available as a batter and that was enough for me to just say, 'brilliant, can't wait to have you back', Buttler added.

England will play New Zealand at home in four T20Is and as many ODIs in September. Following that, they commence their World Cup defence on October 5 against New Zealand in Ahmedabad.