England all-rounder Ben Stokes has revealed that he feared that his participation in the 2023 ODI World Cup was over before it had even begun. Speaking to Stuff.co.nz, Stokes revealed that his fear stemmed from an incident in the gym at the Radisson Blu hotel in Guwahati, where he heard a disconcerting “pop” sound from his left hip during a fitness session.
“I did think I was out,” Stokes confessed, recounting the moment of panic.
“I heard it pop, and when I initially did it, I thought I was done because it’s not good hearing a pop.”
The unsettling noise turned out to be the sound of Stokes ripping the fascia off his muscle, a severe injury that could have potentially ended his World Cup journey prematurely.
The injury occurred just five days before England’s opening World Cup match against New Zealand, forcing Stokes to take a sideline role as England began their world championship defence. However, scans conducted approximately 36 hours later brought some relief to the distressed player.
“Thankfully it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as we initially thought,” Stokes said, expressing his relief. The scan results confirmed that he would still be fit to play a part in the tournament, much to the relief of the team and fans alike.
The all-rounder had made a U-turn on his ODI retirement right ahead of the World Cup, to give England the best chance of defending the trophy. Without the services of Stokes in the first three matches, England fell to embarrassing losses against New Zealand and Afghanistan.
Speaking about the defeat, Stokes said that England needed to move on quickly from the Afghanistan loss.
“When you lose a game at the World Cup, it can be pretty emotional about it,” Stokes said.
“Just reminding the lads to think about it, maybe think back to what you could have done better – but then you’ve just got to move on pretty quickly,” he revealed his team talk.
England will be up against a strong South Africa side, who themselves are coming off a defeat against the Netherlands. The match between the two sides is scheduled to take place on 21 October in Mumbai.
