Posted by The ECB put out a confirmation that Ben Stokes will be taking indefinite break from cricket with immediate effect and Craig Overton is named as Ben’s replacement.
ECB confirmed that Ben Stokes has withdrawn from the the English squad who are set to play India to prioritise his mental well-being and to rest his index finger which has not fully recovered since his return to competitive cricket early this month. The statement further added, ECB fully supports Ben’s decision and will continue to help him during this period away from the game.
ASHLEY GILES, MANAGING DIRECTOR Ash Giles stated, Ben has shown tremendous courage to open up about his feelings and well-being. Our primary focus has always been and will continue to be mental health and welfare of all of our people. He concluded saying, “spending significant time away from family with minimal freedoms is extremely challenging. The cumulative effect of operating almost continuously in these environment over the last 16 months has had a major impact on everyone’s wellbeing.
England’s batting in test cricket has been an issue and with Ben’s absence it looks worse, they’ll relook and have to reframe themselves for this India series staring on the 4th of August. England had serious batting collapses against India early this year in away conditions and against New Zealand in home conditions.
UPDATE ON INDIA’S INJURY REPLACEMENTS ICYMI : The senior selection committee had announced Prithvi Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav as replacements of Injured Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar and net bowler Avesh Khan. BCCI secretary Jay Shah has backed the request of the team management, BCCI are committed on sending Prithvi Shaw and Suryakumar Yadav for the five test match series vs England. There were doubts on whether there will be a change in plan with the duo being isolated as close contacts of Krunal Pandya who tested positive during the recently concluded Sri Lanka – India series.
Jay Shah said, there were discussions after the news of Krunal Pandya testing positive and Prithvi and Suryakumar being close contacts were in isolation to make a change but he felt it was best to back the decision to send in replacements to respect team managements request. So, the plan is very much on and also the duo were close contacts but have repeatedly tested negative as well. They need to serve mandatory quarantine till the 3rd of August and then will fly to England to join the Indian test squad after serving a 10 day isolation period in England that might possibly be negotiated with the board and local authorities of England.
Bureau of sports 