Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni with teammate Ben Stokes. (PTI) As the World Test Championship (WTC) final draws near, all eyes are on England’s all-rounder, Ben Stokes. His fitness levels and readiness to return to competitive cricket have been a topic of widespread discussion.
Stokes, who had missed a chunk of the IPL 2023 season with CSK, broke his silence on injury-marred season and compared the role he played in the IPL final to former England football captain John Terry.
“I played a little bit of a John Terry role winning the IPL,” he joked while talking to the media at Lord’s.
“I think I would much rather have been playing,” Stokes said.
Stokes continued to be troubled by niggling injuries while appearing twice for Indian Premier League side Chennai Super Kings this year and managed to bowl only one over for them.
“I’ve then seen that as an opportunity to train as opposed to playing and then topping yourself up as the tournament goes along. Once you get into the tournament it’s like play, travel, all that kind of stuff. So, I was actually able to turn a disappointing situation into a positive one because I was able to concentrate on properly being able to train, whether that be technical stuff with the bat or fitness stuff, stuff in the gym and being able to concentrate on something else.
“And that was a really good way to get through that long period of having something else to focus on, as opposed to being disappointed I wasn’t playing. So looking back on it, you might say it’s disappointing to only play two games but I was able to then do something else. Sitting here today, I’m actually thinking it could have been a blessing in disguise – every cloud has a silver lining,” said Stokes.
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