Ben Stokes assures England fans that he will be fit for the Ashes series

Ben Stokes, the English skipper, gave a reassuring update to the English fans ahead of the upcoming Ashes series against Australia later on from 16  June. England had registered a thumping 10-wicket victory over Ireland on Saturday.

He took the catch of Curtis Campher at short fine leg, but was seen to be in obvious discomfort thereon as he hobbled around for the rest of the innings in spite of staying on the field till the end. Of late he has been plagued by knee injuries as was seen recently in the IPL.

He was one of the record signings in this years’ IPL and was signed on by eventual winners CSK, for whom, however, he played only 2 matches and bowled a solitary over.

Stokes however, was quick to reassure everyone that the catch he took in the Ireland match would not have any long-term effect on his game in the coming days.

After the match, Stokes said he did not pick up the ball cleanly initially and that he landed rather heavily and quite awkwardly on his knee with his entire body weight going on the inside of his knee as if he had hyper-extended. He also said that he bowled for the first time after returning from the IPL and was quite happy on that front. So there seems to be nothing for the English fans to worry about.

Ben Stokes achieved the unique distinction of leading his side to a creditable victory without actually batting, bowling or wicket-keeping himself. Stokes is the only Test Captain so far to have earned this distinction.

While further elaborating on the catch he took, Stokes said that he didn’t really see the ball at all so had to adjust himself weirdly which is why he landed on his left leg heavily and twisted his leg in a strange fashion. He said he was unable to say what really happened but it was fine in the end. The next day he was to turn 32 and this probably had to do with it—with his age catching up.

When  asked if he’d sit out of the Ashes series in the light of this injury scare he was quick to say that there was nothing to think of anything like that since nothing of the sort had been spoken about and he was fully prepared to bowl at Edgbaston once the series commenced.

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