MUMBAI, India (AP) — Ben Stokes declared himself ready Thursday to play in England's crucial Cricket World Cup match against South Africa after missing the first three games because of injury.
Stokes, the match-winner in the 2019 final, has been struggling with a hip problem sustained a week before the World Cup and missed the losses to New Zealand and Afghanistan, which came either side of a win over Bangladesh.
England next faces the Proteas on Saturday with its title defense on the rocks.
“It was a frustrating little niggle to get before the tournament," the test captain told the BBC before a training session at the Wankhede Stadium, "but I have worked very hard to get back to where I am and I am making myself ready to be available for selection.
“We have had a few days off since the last game and the first training session here in Mumbai. I’ll give it a good push but, yes, I think everything is pretty good. I am in a good place.”
England will hope Stokes' return will resuscitate the team's chances in India and he is relishing the pressure.
“I deal with it pretty easy to be honest, because I know I am one person in a team sport," he said. “No one looks to one person in this team to inspire them or anything like that. It is not the case that if I do come in then all of a sudden we are going to do well.
"It is just one of those things that gets spoken about a lot but I don’t read into too much. Everyone that walks out on to that field for England is a match-winner and can do something individually that can win us a game. We just need to tone it down a bit on me coming back in.”
Stokes will only be a batter at this World Cup as he manages his workload after the Ashes.
___
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
