England could be dealt with a huge blow leading up to the upcoming Ashes series against Australia, slated to start on December 8 at Gabba.
According to a report published in Daily Mirror, ace all-rounder Ben Stokes is likely to miss the iconic Test series after undergoing a second surgery on his broken index finger.
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Stokes, who has been on indefinite break since pulling out of the home Test series against India, initially underwent surgery four months ago after he sustained the injury on his left index finger while playing in the IPL for Rajasthan Royals.
"Leeds based consultant Doug Campbell, who also performed the first surgery back in April, took the screws out of Stokes' healed finger on Monday and resolved the scar tissue that had been causing the agonising pain around his tendons and ligaments," Daily Mirror reported.
The report further said that the broken finger will now be in a better condition and Stokes might play without chronic pain in future. However, he is unlikely to return to action anytime soon.
On Wednesday (October 6), Stokes uploaded a photo on Instagram with his left index finger bandaged.
After suffering a finger injury in the first half of IPL 2021, Ben Stokes had missed England's home Test series against New Zealand before he returned to captain the new-look ODI team to a 3-0 series win over Pakistan.
In the last week of July, however, Stokes decided to take an indefinite break from cricket to prioritize his mental well-being.
Last month, England announced their squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 and Stokes didn’t feature in it.
