Ben Stokes will undergo surgery on his troublesome left knee after the World Cup in a bid to return to India for a five-match Test series in January as a fully functioning all-rounder.
Stokes, who turns 33 next year, has not bowled for England since the second Ashes Test at Lord’s at the end of June, and arrived here for their title defence knowing he would play as a specialist batsman.
But he admitted that his inability to bowl has been ‘a big hindrance’, and plans to have the operation shortly after England play their last game at the World Cup – which, barring a mathematical miracle, will be their final group game against Pakistan in Kolkata on November 11.
He expects to be out for five to seven weeks, giving him plenty of time to get ready for the first Test against India at Hyderabad on January 25. The squad leave the UK on January 11 or 12 for a pre-tour camp in the UAE.
‘There was a lot of time put into deciding when to get it done,’ he said. ‘I should be fine to go by the India Test series.’
Ben Stokes revealed he will undergo knee surgery to fix the ongoing issue after the World Cup
Stokes has been struggling with the problem on his left knee for much of the past 18 months
Asked whether he intended to return as a seam-bowling all-rounder, he replied: ‘There will be more decisions and more discussions between myself and the medical team. It’s been a long time coming and obviously I want to get back to what I’ve been doing prior to the 18 months where I’ve had this injury.
‘We’ll just see how everything goes, see how I respond to the surgery and all the rehab as well.
‘It’s been a big hindrance on me and affected what I can do for the team. Obviously that’s what I want to be doing. You’d hope that it means that I can get back to doing what I’ve been known for, which is playing a role as a batter, and playing a role as a bowler as well.’
There has been uncertainty in recent months whether Stokes would go under the knife at all, especially as it was unclear whether his problem – thought to be chronic tendonitis – could be solved by surgery.
Stokes insisted if all goes to plan he should return as a seam-bowling all rounder after surgery
He also described England’s World Cup performance as ‘c**p’ ahead of the clash with Australia
And he remained unsure precisely what nature the operation would take. ‘I always go down with the docs and the physios and they use language that I’ve never heard before,’ he said.
‘There’s obviously something that needs to be operated on. I’ll switch off and let Andy Williams, the surgeon, do what he does best, which is fix knees.’
Meanwhile, ahead of their match against Australia tomorrow, Stokes described England’s performance at the World Cup as ‘c**p’.
He added: ‘We’ve had a disastrous World Cup and there’s no point sugar-coating that, because it’s the truth. But we know these last three games – we’ve got a lot to play for.’
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