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England-New Zealand Series

Stokes: I knew I'd be playing the World Cup


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Photo: Ben Stokes

|| CF DESK ||

England all-rounder Ben Stokes has admitted that he knew that he would reverse his ODI retirement ahead of England's defense of the 50-over World Cup in India.

Stokes, who was only focusing on Test cricket in 2023, recently stated that he made up his mind to return to the ODI format during the Ashes and to compete for England in the upcoming World Cup.


"Obviously, I've been asked a lot about my knee over a long period of time, so I just said that to leave it. I knew that I'd be playing in these games and potentially in the World Cup then when I said that, but it was just the easiest thing to say that and put you (the press) off the radar,” said Stokes


Stokes smashed 182 runs in 124 deliveries that helped England to post a huge total and hammered New Zealand by 181 runs in the third ODI.

The England test captain hit nine sixes and 15 fours in an entertaining knock to lift the hosts to a total of 368.

"Coming back into the team after a while out, it's nice to come back and help the team. We spoke about putting New Zealand under pressure, especially up top. As the experienced players, you want to be showing the guys to go out there and do that," he added.