The defending champions of the T20 World Cup, England, have suffered a huge blow as Ben Stokes has pulled out of the T20 World Cup. Stokes has been struggling with fitness and has only been playing as a batter for England. Stokes resumed his bowling in the last test match that England played against India.
Stokes has taken the decision to skip the World Cup in order to regain his bowling fitness so that he can play as an all-rounder for England in the summer.
Speaking about Stokes decision, his teammate Stuart Broad feels that this is the best decision for him.
Stuart Broad said, “Whatever Ben decides to do for the well-being of himself is the right decision. Ben Stokes has made some incredible decisions in his career that have paid off for him. He wants to get back to being the all-rounder that he was, and he feels like getting some workload through the knee in a controlled environment, without the help of a scale to pressurize the nature of a T20 World Cup, is the best choice.”
Another player who’s facing issues related to fitness is England’s pace bowler, Jofra Archer. Jofra Archer has not played much cricket in the past two years due to injuries.
Speaking about him, Broad said, “Yeah, it’s a concern. First of all, he is a friend of mine, a teammate of mine, and an amazing talent for world cricket. He has genuine pace; he moves the ball. He’s a match winner.”
Broad further added, We’ve not seen the best of Jofra Archer on the field now for coming on for nearly four years. He’s played bits and bobs, but he’s had awful injury problems, which are very difficult for him to cope with. I think there’s positivity from him and the England camp that there’s a chance we might see him in the T20 World Cup, which would be a great lift for England fans and cricket fans around the world.”
Broad also shared his concern over Archer’s injury and hoped that he would return from it as soon as possible. Speaking about Archer’s injury, Broad said, “It’s a concern that his injury keeps coming back, but he’s got some really good people around him to help lift him up and drive him forward. Ultimately, he’s signed a two-year contract with England Cricket, so they must believe that he’ll come back to his best as soon as possible.”
