‘Ben is very much his own man, he makes his own decisions’ – Jos Buttler on Ben Stokes’ come back in ODI Team
Jos Buttler (Source: Twitter)
England’s Test Captain and all-rounder Ben Stokes has made his way back to the ODIs as he recently announced his comeback from retirement into the longer format of the game ahead of the ODI World Cup 2023. Previously, in July 2022, Ben Stokes publicly announced his retirement from the one-day format to focus more on T20 cricket and test cricket as the captain.
Ahead of the marquee world tournament, Ben Stokes has claimed that it was entirely his call to make a comeback to the England cricket team for the ODIs. It seems like Ben Stokes was influenced by the preparations going on by the squad for the upcoming world championship which made him reconsider his decision.
Jos Buttler on Ben Stokes’ comeback
Ahead of the series against New Zealand, the English cricket team captain Jos Buttler enlightened the press regarding Ben Stokes coming back to the team after a year. Buttler talked about how Stokes is difficult to persuade, and the English Cricket Board and the team is happy to welcome him back to the squad. He also talked about how the all-rounder is a man of himself and makes his own decisions and people asking him to be back in the team really wouldn’t have affected his decision unless it was his own call.
“To be honest, it was Ben (Stokes’) call. You all know Ben pretty well by now – I don’t think anyone talking to him would persuade him. We had some conversations quite a while ago about it and just left it to him to come to me, basically, if he wanted to come back. We’re delighted that he feels ready to come back,” said Jos Buttler.
“Ben is very much his own man, he makes his own decisions. I’ve played with him for a very long time, I’m good friends with him. Me badgering him and saying ‘Come back, come back’ is not really the way things work with Ben. He very much makes up his own mind and decides,” added Jos Buttler.
