Image Credit- ICC
Ben Stokes worried that his 2023 ODI World Cup was
finished before it even started when he heard his left hip “pop” in
the gym of the Radisson Blu hotel in Guwahati. Instead, he seems destined to
make his injury comeback against South Africa on Saturday night as England
attempts to turn around their tournament.
Stokes and Andy Mitchell, England’s strength and
conditioning coach, were horrified to hear a disturbance during a fitness
session that turned out to be Stokes “ripping the fascia off my
muscle” shortly after their arrival in India at the end of September.
Despite scans ruling out a major injury, Stokes believed he was going to miss
the World Cup in a span of 36 hours.
“When I initially did it, I thought I was
done,” Stokes revealed on Thursday, “because it’s not good hearing a
pop. Thankfully, it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as what we initially thought…
we got a programme in place straight away and it went really well. I’m here
now, physically being available for selection, so it’s pretty good.”
Stokes came through England’s first training session
in Mumbai unscathed on Thursday night, range-hitting for around half an hour
against sidearm throws. “It’s obviously been a frustrating little niggle
to get before the tournament started, but I’ve worked very hard to get to where
I am now… I’m pretty confident that everything will be good.
“I’ve worked to get back to a position of fitness
where I’m able to go out and not be a hindrance on the team. I’ve worked hard
and got to a point where I feel like I can do as much as I possibly can without
having to hide in the field, or not be able to do as much as I need to do, to
be able to actually have a positive influence on the team.”
Even though he wasn’t on the pitch, Stokes tried to
make a good impact on his teammates in Delhi on Sunday night after their 69-run
loss to Afghanistan. Although he has no official position in the white-ball
system, coach Matthew Mott referred to him as England’s “spiritual
leader” and Jos Buttler’s confidant.
“Jos and Motty have got a lot on their shoulders
with it being a World Cup,” Stokes said. “I try and help out as much
as I can without stepping on Jos and Motty’s toes in terms of how they want to
lead this group. I know that people do listen when I talk. I don’t try and
speak too much but I try and speak when I feel it’s the right time.”