We Are Not Cars Where You Can Fill Up With Petrol: Ben Stokes On His ODI Retirement

Ben Stokes made the major choice to retire from ODIs in order to control his workload, as he believes playing all three forms is unsustainable for him right now. Stokes has played 104 One-Day Internationals, scoring 2919 runs and taking 74 wickets.

He is playing his last ODI against South Africa at his home ground in Durham.

I Want To Play For As Long As Possible, Want To Play 150 Tests For England: Ben Stokes

When asked about his decision to retire from one format before the game, he said:

“It was never going to be an easy one, but now being the captain of the Test team and how much cricket is coming up, I have to look after my body because I want to play as long as I possibly can.

“I look at how Jimmy and Broady’s careers have gone since they stopped playing white-ball cricket… I want to play 140, 150 Test matches for England. It’s come earlier than I would have liked but in T20 cricket I bowl 2 or 3 overs here and there. Hopefully when I’m 35, 36 I can look back on this decision and say I’m happy with it,” he added about extending his Test career, a format that he started very well as a captain.

“You always want to be contributing to your team and need to be on it, 100% of the time. We’re not cars where you can fill us up with petrol. It does all add up, it does have an effect on you. The schedule is jam-packed and you’re asking a lot of the players to keep putting in 100% of their efforts every time you walk onto the field for your country,” he concluded about his decision.

Stokes did not have the best of the ODI series against India.

Also Read: I Have Absolutely Loved Every Time I’ve Played Against Someone Like Virat Kohli: Ben Stokes