England Test captain Ben Stokes is facing fitness trouble due to his knee. Neither the same is a hidden fact anymore nor Stokes is facing issues with respect to his left knee for the first time.
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That being said, it sure is a major concern for both English and Chennai Super Kings fans. With Indian Premier League 2023 set to become Stokes’ sixth season in the tournament, he will be playing for his third team in Super Kings. For the unversed, Stokes had emerged as third-most expensive player during the auction for the forthcoming 16th season of the IPL held in Kochi a couple of months ago.
Stokes, 31, hasn’t played a T20 since ICC T20 World Cup 2022 final against Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Keen to fulfill his IPL commitment, Stokes disclosed already informing CSK head coach Stephen Fleming about the condition of his knee.
It is due to the same reason that Stokes hasn’t bowled a lot during the recently concluded two-match Test series in New Zealand. Stokes, who bowled a total of nine overs across both the matches, was in considerable pain while both bowling a couple of overs and batting during the second innings of the second Test in Wellington.
Furthermore, since December 2022, Stokes has bowled only 44 overs across five Tests when pacers Ollie Robinson and James Anderson (four Tests) have bowled 144.1 and 131.2 overs respectively.
Ben Stokes knee Injury Update
Therefore, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Stokes’ workload would be managed during IPL 2022 as England are scheduled to participate in home Test summer right after the cash-rich league.
“I’m not sure exactly,” a confused Stokes told reporters about his injury. “There’s maybe three or four months before we get to the Ashes and we’ve worked incredibly hard with our physios and medics to get everything right strength-wise.”
A trusted fourth bowling option among English pacers in Test cricket, Stokes honestly admitted frustration about a long-standing injury erupting again especially when he is slated to partake in crucial tournaments. Stokes, however, hoped to attain full fitness before Ashes 2023.
“I’m not going to lie. It is very frustrating knowing that I’ve got something holding me back in terms of my body. It’s been around for a while,” Stokes added.
Steve Harmison and Paul Collingwood opine on Ben Stokes’ knee
Former England pacer Steve Harmison reckoned that Tuesday was the first time when Stokes put on display his agony of suffering a knee injury in front of people. “This guy has got a really high pain threshold,” Harmison told talkSPORT 2. “Too high, that is probably the problem. But this is restricting his movement, big time.”
It was on after the third day’s play at Basin Reserve that former England captain and current Assistant coach Paul Collingwood had expressed confidence in Stokes managing the knee issue. “He is always willing to bowl. I think he’s got a lot of faith in his other bowlers. It [knee issue] is always there. He knows how to manage it,” Collingwood had told BT Sport on Sunday.
