Ben Stokes is ready to return to the England team for the World Cup match with South Africa. Photo: Getty Images/Gareth Copley < p>Ben Stokes said he feared his Cricket World Cup was over before it began after hearing a 'pop' in his left thigh in Guwahati two days after arriving England to India.
Stokes didn't even have time to get out of it. on the field when he felt something in his thigh while working out at a Guwahati gym, but it was serious enough to immediately raise fears that his return from a one-day layoff before the World Cup had been thwarted.
” I really thought I was out,” Stokes said. “I heard a pop and when I first did it I thought I was done because it’s not good to hear a pop. We received the images after 36 hours, maybe two days.
Scans showed he had torn the muscle's fascia and suffered an injury that occurred five days before England's World Cup opener against New York. Zealand – relegated Stokes to a supporting role while their World Cup defense began.
It is important to note that the scan results at least confirmed that he is still fit to take part in the tournament.“It was nice when we got the [scan] results. I actually tore the fascia off my muscle, which is very rare, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. It was a strange injury. I was limited in some movements, but not in others
“Fortunately, everything turned out to be not as bad as we initially thought. We set up a program straight away and it went very well and now I'm here, physically available for selection.”
With Stokes set to return to the team against South Africa on Saturday, he hit some powerful shots through the nets onto the ground in training as a sign of their fitness on Thursday – England are faced with a serious dilemma over the balance of their team.
Stokes was put to the test while batting in the nets in Mumbai on Thursday. Photo: Reuters/Andrew Bowers
Harry Brooke, England's number four in Stokes' absence, made 66 against Afghanistan and is likely to retain his place, leaving all-rounder Sam Curran out of the squad and England picking six professional batsmen.
< p>The combination of England's poor start to the tournament and the Wankhede pitch, which is generally good for batting and promotes cohesion, could lead to further changes in the team. Curran and Chris Woakes are both vulnerable after struggling so far in this tournament, while David Willey is a strong contender to grab the new ball.
Quinton de Kock, the only man to score two centuries in the World Cup, has a noticeable weakness against spin. This could strengthen Moeen Ali's case for a recall, although both Joe Root and Liam Livingstone could also opt out of rotation.
A radical option would be to drop Adil Rashid, leaving either Livingston or Moeen at number seven. Although Rashid took the match against Afghanistan with 3-42, his exclusion would have allowed England to play with four specialist seamers. This would mean that Mark Wood could be relegated to the middle overs, where he is most effective, and avoid bowling in the first ten overs. If England were to select four specialist seamers, it could allow Gus Atkinson to be included as well, giving two high-pace options.
Stokes denied he would have played England's third cap if they had been against a higher ranked opponent than Afghanistan. England lost by 69 runs in Delhi and suffered their second defeat in three games this tournament.
Afghanistan unlikely to beat Afghanistan England last week Photo: Reuters/Anushree Fadnavis
“There was a case where if it had been a knockout game or something like that, everyone would have had a good talk,” Stokes said . “But at that stage of the game against Afghanistan we were far from it. And no, there was no resistance, it was just Afghanistan.”
After England's 69-run defeat to Afghanistan on Sunday, Stokes addressed the team, urging them to be more aggressive in the rest of the tournament.< /p>
“When you lose a World Cup game, it can be quite emotional about it,” Stokes said. “Just reminding the guys to think about it, maybe remember what you could have done better – but then you just have to move on pretty quickly.
“We're just reminding ourselves that we, as a group of players, we do what we do best: always be on top of the opponent, always act and make them a reactive team, unlike us.”
Although Stokes does not have a formal leadership role in the team, he is a vital senior player and brings leadership experience through his successes in Test cricket.
“I believe that just reminding everyone of certain things – reinforcing them who they are , what they have achieved in the game, how talented they are and how good they are at sports. I always try to do this with a group.
“You hear me say this a lot: I don’t care if we lose. I want us to go out and play like we say. I think that's what we're alluding to as a band. If we're going to go down, let's go down doing what we're known for. Let's not be timid, let's be limited in what we want to do. We want to go out and show the opposition what England is.”
Stokes: “I'm not the Messiah”
But after being described as England's “spiritual leader” by head coach Matthew Mott this week, Stokes has sought to downplay expectations for his return. After retiring to play in the World Cup, Stokes scored 182 (an England record) in his last one-day international against New Zealand in September.
“I'm not the Messiah,” Stokes said. said. “I am one person in a team sport, one person who can add something. It doesn't mean that you'll suddenly win the game, because I know that I'm just a small part of a larger being.
“I don't think any team sports automatic return means that you will win the game. All I can try to do is what I do every time I put on the England shirt and give it my all.”
After arriving with the team in Mumbai, Jofra Archer trained with the team for the first time since then. England. join the World Cup team as a traveling reserve. Continuing his rehabilitation from the stress fracture, Archer eased into training and did not play. England are hopeful that he will be able to bowl in the coming days, but he is still not fully fit to bowl.
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