"Alright, I will..." - Ben Stokes' fresh update on bowling comeback ahead of 4th Test

It has been a while since England’s Test captain and all-rounder Ben Stokes has bowled in the red ball format. It was the second Test match against Australia in July 2023, when Stokes was seen with the ball in his hand. Stokes was troubled with his knee injury and underwent surgery in November 2023. The English all-rounder also took back his name from the IPL 2024.

Ben Stokes was seen bowling in the nets during the second IND vs ENG Test wherein a video of him went viral on social media. There were rumors that Stokes would return to bowling in the Vizag Test, however, he hasn’t done it till now and also didn’t bowl in the Rajkot Test match.

Ben Stokes continues the darkness over his bowling future

However, Ben Stokes has come up with a new statement on his bowling future in Test cricket. As per Indian Express, while speaking in the pre-IND vs ENG fourth Test match press conference, Stokes has continued the darkness regarding his bowling in Test cricket. Stokes said, “Alright, I will bowl, maybe not.”

Before the third IND vs ENG Test match, Ben Stokes had spoken about his bowling future. Stokes had stated that he had promised his physio that he wouldn’t bowl even if he started feeling good, as it would increase the risk of getting a serious injury. Stokes had said that he won’t bowl in the ongoing series.

To manage his workload, Ben Stokes retired from ODI cricket ahead of the 2023 ODI World Cup. However, with discussions with captain Jos Buttler, the latter returned to the 50-over format and played the major tournament. Stokes was hardly seen bowling in the tournament and was also not able to contribute with his bat. Though, the English Test skipper has performed with the bat in the red ball format and has won his team many games.

Shifting the focus to the IND vs ENG Test series, the fourth match is all set to be played at the JSCA Stadium in Ranchi. Both the teams have reached the ground and began training. While the Indian team will still be missing the services of KL Rahul due to an injury, Jasprit Bumrah is also rested for the fourth Test.

The Indian team have found the answers to most of their problems in the third Test match and mostly all the players of the team displayed a brilliant performance. India would be high on confidence after the massive 434-run win against the Three Lions and will want to win the series in Ranchi.

On the other hand, the visitors have made changes to their bowling lineup for the fourth Test match. Ollie Robinson and Shoaib Bashir have replaced Mark Wood and Rehan Ahmed in the line-up.

The Indian team will look forward to strengthening their position in the World Test Championship 2023-25 standings.

ENGLAND XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Ben Foakes, Tom Hartley, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson, Shoaib Bashir