Ben Stokes To Undergo Knee Surgery After England’s Campaign

England’s test captain and all-rounder Ben Stokes said he will undergo knee surgery at the end of the ongoing Cricket World Cup and hopes to be fit for England’s test series in India early next year.

Stokes, 32, had been struggling with a chronic knee issue for the last 18 months and has been playing only as a specialist batter at the World Cup, which is being held in India.

ESPNCricinfo reported that all-rounder Stokes has not bowled in a competitive match in any format since July 1, the fourth day of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s Stadium in London.

“I am having surgery after the World Cup. I don’t think the surgery is going to have any hindrance on me taking part in the series in India,” Stokes told reporters in Ahmedabad on Friday, a day before the defending champions’ World Cup match with Australia.

England are due to play a five-test series in India, with the first test scheduled to start on January 25 in Hyderabad. The second test is in Visakhapatnam followed by the third in Rajkot, while the fourth test is scheduled in Ranchi and the series finale is in Dharamsala.

Neither Stokes nor England mentioned how long the player would be out for following the surgery but media reports said the 32-year-old could be sidelined for up to seven weeks, which means he would miss England’s tour of the Caribbean in December.

“Obviously it’s been a long time coming and obviously I want to get back to what I’ve been doing prior to the 18 months where I’ve had this injury,” said Stokes. “We’ll just see how everything goes, see how I respond to the surgery and all the rehab as well.”

Stokes said the knee issue has been a “big hindrance” on him at the World Cup, where he has failed to impress with the bat.

“It’s been a big hindrance on me, and affected what I can do for the team,” he added. “Obviously that [being an allrounder] is what I want to be doing. You’d hope that it means that I can get back to doing what I’ve been known for, which is playing a role as a batter, and playing a role as a bowler as well.”

‘Disastrous World Cup’

England have had a World Cup campaign to forget, with Jos Buttler’s side bottom of the points table with just one win in six matches. They are all but certain of being eliminated in the league stage, with three more games to go, including Saturday’s clash with rivals Australia.

“We’ve had a disastrous World Cup and there’s no point sugarcoating that because it’s the truth,” Stokes said. “But we know these last three games, for us, we’ve got a lot to play for. I think the biggest thing that we’ve got to play for is obviously the pride of what it is to put the three lines on your chest, walking out onto the field every time is a very special occasion and something that we value very highly.

“So, yeah, I know there’ll be a lot of noise around England, and Australia in the next game, but regardless of who we play against the feeling of putting that shirt on is something that we take very seriously.”