Vaibhav Tripathi
Jos Buttler, England’s white-ball captain, clarified that he didn’t need to convince Ben Stokes to reverse his decision to retire from ODI cricket, enabling his availability for the upcoming World Cup in India.
Stokes, who had stepped away from ODI cricket in June the previous year citing workload concerns, has made a comeback with the aim of helping England to defend the World Cup title. He secured his place in the provisional World Cup squad, announced two days back on Wednesday.
“Ben (Stokes) is very much his own man, he makes his own decisions. I’ve played with him for a very long time, I’m good friends with him. Me badgering him and saying ‘come back, come back’ is not really the way things work with Ben. He very much makes up his own mind and decides,” Buttler was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
“We had some conversations around it and just left it in his court. I’m sure the lure of playing in a World Cup is quite big for someone as competitive and as driven as he is to play in an England shirt. I’m delighted he felt up to it and could come back,” he added.
The Buttler-led England team will commence their 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup campaign against New Zealand, a re-match of the 2019 final, at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on October 5.