Star England player opts out of T20 World Cup in shocking move

England are the defending champions and will start its title defence against Scotland on June 4.

 By Monojit Das Updated: Apr 2, 2024, 15:18 IST
England T20 side?width=963&height=541&resizemode=4

England's Test captain Ben Stokes has decided to pull out of the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024. Stokes cited his ongoing fitness concerns as the reason behind his decision. Tha allrounder has set his main focus on being fully fit for the Test matches to be played in the upcoming summer.

Stokes recently led England in an away Test series against India. England won the first match of the series, but lost the next four, thus losing the series 1-4 to a mighty Indian side. Ben Stokes bowled just five overs in the whole series due to his recurring knee issues. Interestingly, he took the wicket of Rohit Sharma off the first ball he bowled in the series.

Stokes aims to make a comeback as a full-fledged allrounder

While commenting on his decision to pull out of the T20 World Cup 2024, Stokes told ECB that he is working on his bowling fitness and aims to be back as an all-rounder this tiime.

“I’m working hard and focusing on building my bowling fitness back up to fulfil a full role as an all-rounder in all formats of cricket. Opting out of the IPL and the World Cup will hopefully be a sacrifice that allows me to be the all-rounder I want to be for the foreseeable future," Stokes said.

The 32-year-old allrounder wants to play county cricket for Durham to get ready for the Test summer. He also wished England's white-ball set-up for the upcoming T20 World Cup.

“The recent Test tour of India highlighted how far behind I was from a bowling point of view after my knee surgery and nine months without bowling. I’m looking forward to playing for Durham in the County Championship before the start of our Test summer. I wish Jos (England white-ball captain Jos Buttler), Motty (white-ball head coach Matthew Mott) and all the team the best of luck in defending our title,” Stokes added.

Also read: Marais Erasmus admits his error which saw England win 2019 World Cup

England will be going into the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024 as defending champions. After a horrible performance in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, the Three Lions will be hoping to redeem themselves and put up a strong performance. England will start its title defence on June 4 against Scotland at Barbados. The tournament will be played from June 2 to June 29 in the West Indies and USA.

For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram and YouTube.

From around the web