Ben Stokes hasn't bowled since undergoing knee surgery after World Cup 2023.
Ahead of the fourth Test in Ranchi, the visitors are likely to tinker with their attack and to everyone’s surprise, skipper Ben Stokes was spotted rolling his arms over at the JSCA facility during the training session on Wednesday.
The English captain bowled a few deliveries in the nets while Ollie Robinson sweated it out for a longer duration. The likes of James Anderson and Mark Wood, who featured in the third Test in Rajkot, didn’t train on Wednesday.
Ollie Pope addressed the media in the pre-match press conference on Wednesday where he was questioned if Stokes would bowl in the upcoming fixture.
“There’s definitely a chance but Ben Stokes hasn’t confirmed that he will bowl,” Pope said.
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Ben Stokes underwent a knee surgery after the World Cup 2023 and even before that he didn’t bowl much due toa persisting knee issue. Coming into the series against India, the England captain had already ruled out bowling and said he had made a ‘pinky promise’ to the team physio.
Sky Sports shared a video on social media in which Stokes can be seen bowling in nets and then having a chat with team doctor Glen Rae on the sidelines of the nets.
“He didn’t want to put himself under too much pressure early by saying he’s going to be bowling, so he’s played it day by day with how his knee is feeling. I think he’s been impressed by how his knee has been going. He’s had a good bowl against our batters. We know what he’s like, he’s got that competitive edge. There’s every chance he’ll bowl, but he’s not confirmed it yet,” Pope added.
Ben Stokes requires just 3 wickets to complete the double of 200 wickets and over 6000 runs in Tests.
(News18 inputs)