England Test captain Joe Root said that he is absolutely thrilled with the news that star all-rounder Ben Stokes will be returning to the teams for the upcoming Ashes 2021-22 in Australia.

Stokes had recently taken a break from all forms of cricket to take care of his mental health and recover from his finger injury. The all-rounder last played in the ODI series against Pakistan at home.

However, he has recently announced his comeback to the game with the upcoming Ashes series, starting on December 8 in Australia, and no one could be happier than Root with this news. He was already named in England's squad for the Ashes 2021-22 against Australia later this year.

Root told ESPNcricinfo: “Obviously, it's massive news. Speak to anyone within the game, whether they'd prefer to have Ben in their team or not, and everyone would say they would. On a personal level, I'm just absolutely thrilled that he's in a place where he can get back playing and enjoy the sport once again.”

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He added, “Although we all know what Ben is capable of, we're still managing expectations. He's been out of the game a long time, he's had a serious injury and he's got a lot of work to do to get himself back to the Ben Stokes we all know. But if there's one thing we can bet on with Ben it's that he'll do everything he can to ready himself and then put in performances that help England win games of cricket.”

Praising Stokes and explaining how can he be a key asset in Australia, the skipper said: “He's a massive asset in many respects. First and foremost, his performances on the field, especially what he has done against Australia in the recent past. But also the way that he plays his cricket. Look at where we are going: we are going to have periods of play where it's going to be very challenging. We're going have to have people stick their hands up and grab the game - he is someone who will always do that.”

Root signed off by saying, “He'll lead from the front in that respect, he is a brilliant leader in the dressing room and people follow him. They look at how he works, how he practices, how he goes about his cricket. And they all want to go along with him. That's a great trait to have, along with being capable of performing how he does. It's a huge boost for balancing the side as well, as he has done for such a long time now. Everything about the way he goes about things is going to be great for us.”

(With ANI Inputs)