England captain Ben Stokes confirmed that he will play exclusively as a specialist batter in the upcoming five-match Test series against India. The much-anticipated Test series is set to commence on Thursday, January 25, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad.

Ahead of the Test series opener, Stokes clarified that his current physical condition does not allow him to consider competitive bowling at this time. However, the star all-rounder stressed that his aim to focus on contributing with the bat during the tough Test series in India.

Ben Stokes told ESPNcricinfo: “Bowling is such an unnatural thing for the body to go through that it's not going to be a case of right, I'm good now, straight back into bowling. Remember the last ball I bowled was actually in the Ashes at Lord's.”

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The England captain added, “So, my body is nowhere near ready to even be thinking about competitive bowling at the moment. But if I get to a stage in this tour where we can start building myself back up to bowling, then hopefully by the summer, that's where I've earmarked as playing a full role as I want to be doing.”

The 32-year-old said that he put in all the hard work required during his necessary rehabilitation to be fully prepared for the highly anticipated Test series against India.

Stokes further explained, “I've done everything away from it that a match requires. I'd never put myself ahead of the team if I didn't think I could go out and play at a certain level. I'd never be that selfish to think of myself not performing at a certain level and what that could do to the team.”

He signed off by saying, “I've done everything I needed to do to say, 'yes I'm ready to go and play a Test match for England'. I'll just have to see. I might have some long days in the field but I'm ready.”

(With ESPNcricinfo Inputs)