England Needs To Be Extremely Sensitive Towards Ben Stokes' Comeback - Saba Karim

Former Indian cricketer Saba Karim believes Ben Stokes’ return to international cricket holds England in good stead but they shouldn’t have too many expectations from the all-rounder for the upcoming Ashes series.

Stokes took an indefinite break from cricket to tend to his mental well-being. He announced his return to the squad for the Ashes series and the England team and fans will naturally have a lot of expectations from their star. However, nobody knows what Stokes went through and the dressing room needs to assess his condition from time to time, as per Karim.

“The way forward for the England set-up is to have a very open and transparent communication system with Ben Stokes. [They need to] just to keep track of how he’s feeling, how he’s coping with this pressure once again, and what kind of space he is in mentally. They should not have too many expectations from Stokes because one doesn’t know what transpired in the past that he had to take time off from the game and work on his mental health,” Karim said in a press call organized by Sony Sports.

“There’s a tendency to expect same kind of performance from someone like Stokes” – Saba Karim

In the previous Ashes series, Ben Stokes produced an innings of a lifetime at Headingley to take the English side home and keep the series alive. Because of that, the team’s natural tendency will be to expect something along those lines. However, Saba Karim feels this may not be the right way to think.

“They need to be extremely sensitive towards this kind of a comeback from Stokes because he remains such an instrumental and influential figure in the English dressing room. And there’s a tendency to expect the same kind of performance from someone like Stokes, something he has produced in the past. It may not be so easy but if Stokes and the English team management work together in tandem, then I am one can see the best possible outcome for the English team,” Karim further stated.

The Ashes begins on December 8 at the Gabba in Brisbane, followed by the second Test in Adelaide.

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