ICC World Cup 2023: Ravichandran Ashwin Reacts To News Of Ben Stokes' Potential ODI Return For ICC World Cup

India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has become the first high-profile name from Indian cricket to react to the recent news of Ben Stokes’ considering coming out of retirement to play in the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup.

The star allrounder is reportedly set to make a sensational return to England’s ODI team ahead of the World Cup. Ben Stokes was a key member of the team that fired England to their first-ever World Cup title in 2019. He was the top scorer in the final against New Zealand. He, however, decided to bring down the curtains on his ODI career last year to focus more on Tests after being named the captain of England’s red-ball team.

But the latest reports from England suggest that Ben Stokes is more than likely to return to the ODI team and help the side defend the title. Recently, England’s white-ball coach Matthew Mott also dropped a big hint regarding Ben Stokes’ potential return. The former Australia women’s team coach said that the onus would be on captain Jos Buttler to convince Ben Stokes to reconsider his retirement.

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“Jos will probably lead the way on that communication, but Ben’s pretty straight with all of us. We will see if he’s keen,” Mott told Daily Mail before adding: “There has not been a clear direction on what he’s going to do yet, but we are still hopeful. I’ve always said his bowling would be a bonus, but just look at what he brings with the bat, even in the field.”

Ravichandran Ashwin reacts to Ben Stokes’ potential ODI return:

While only time will tell whether Ben Stokes returns to England’s ODI team or not, Ravichandran Ashwin has reacted to the development. In a video posted on his YouTube channel, the India Test star related the episode to the Tamil movie Vadivelu and said that Buttler has the responsibility to convince Ben Stokes to play in the World Cup.

“As Vadivelu says to a guy in the movie Friends, “Dude, watch that guy for some time. It seems Jos Buttler’s duty is to watch Ben Stokes, according to Matthew Mott. So, Jos Buttler is keeping an eye on Ben Stokes. It’s Jos Buttler’s responsibility now to bring Ben Stokes out of retirement and make him available for the 50-over World Cup,” Ravichandran Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

Ben Stokes himself did something similar a few weeks ago. After an injury ruled Jack Leach out of the Ashes, the England Test captain managed to convince Moeen Ali to come out of Test retirement and play in the five-match series.