'Thought I Was Done Because...' : Ben Stokes On Recovering From Hip Injury
Ben Stokes missed England's first-three WC 23 matches [X.com]
England's plans to win a second-consecutive ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 suffered a huge blow after all-rounder Ben Stokes sustained a hip injury in Guwahati, which forced the Test captain to miss as many as three matches.
However, ample rest and rehabilitation ensured that Stokes will finally make his much-awaited World Cup 2023 debut against South Africa on Sunday in Mumbai, with England desperately needing a change of fortunes.
Ahead of the encounter, Stokes while speaking to ESPNcricinfo, stated how he thought his tournament was over when he sustained the injury in the team hotel. The star all-rounder had his first proper training session on Thursday in Mumbai, where the player showed no-signs of discomfort.
Here's what Stokes revealed
"When I initially did it, I thought I was done. Because it's not good hearing a pop. Thankfully, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as what we initially thought… we got a programme in place straight away and it went really well. I'm here now, physically being available for selection, so it's pretty good."
Without Stokes in the middle order, England have found it troublesome to bat as seen against New Zealand and Afghanistan, respectively, where Jos Buttler and Co. suffered embarrassing defeats.
With one win and two losses, England finds themselves fifth in the WC points table, ahead of teams like Australia, Pakistan, Netherlands, Bangaldesh, and Afghanistan on the virtue of a better net run rate.
 "Vishal Mehra")
