Ben Stokes was forced to leave the field on the third day of England’s 423-run defeat at the hands of New Zealand earlier this month.
He had a recurrence of a hamstring tear that had troubled him in the past. Now, he has been ruled out for three months of cricket due to the torn left hamstring last month.
The current England captain has vowed to give his “blood, sweat, and tears” to the team when he returns.
Last month against New Zealand, he felt immediate pain in his left thigh after delivering a bouncer in his 13th over during the third day’s play. It was the same hamstring that he tore in August while playing in the Hundred. That injury kept him out for two months.
After the injury last month, Ben Stokes has undergone a scan upon his return to the country. The recurrence of hamstring tear was confirmed by the ECB on Monday. He is slated to undergo surgery in January.
The seriousness of the injury was flagged earlier this week when he was omitted from the Champions Trophy squad. The ECB said that he was not considered on the medical grounds.
Here is what Ben Stokes said on X (Twitter).
He was performing decently in the New Zealand series. He had taken 7 wickets at 36.85 from 66.1 overs and a batting average of 52.66 across four innings. It has been a great return of Stokes to international cricket after the successful knee surgery in October last year.
Before the Hamilton Test, he was optimistic that he was in a good place. He spoke.
“I have to work so much harder on the physical side of the job to allow me to go out and do my job but I got a good amount of overs in during the last two games and I am more confident about getting through a lot of spells in a day.”
“That is where I got to before I pulled my hamstring. I bowled nice in the summer, had a setback but now feel out of that and not worrying about anything else happening again. As you get older you think about your body a bit more but I work harder because I have to.”
