Ben Stokes reveals Ashes factor behind missing final Test vs India

England Test skipper Ben Stokes says that it wasn't 'worth the risk' playing as a batter in the final Test against India so he decided to skip it altogether. The England captain was anyway not going to bowl after picking up a shoulder niggle in the fourth Test in Manchester which ended in a draw. Notably, Stokes has takes most wickets in the series from either side and has taken his team to a 2-1 lead heading into the final match. The decision also had an Ashes factor for which England travel to Australia in next 14 weeks time in what could be tenure defining series for Stokes as captain.

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“We took as long as we could to make the decision,” Stokes said on his withdrawal from the Test. “I came down [to the Oval] this morning to give myself every chance just to play as a batter – bowling was ruled out as soon as we got the scan results. It’s one of those where weighing up the risk and reward, the risk was way too high. Hearing where it could head to, it wasn’t something that was worth taking a risk on. I wouldn’t expect to put any of my players at risk of an injury like this. So I’ll start rehabbing now and focus on what we’ve got coming up in the winter. Once this series was done I was feet up anyway, so it doesn’t make too much difference.”

Stokes suffered a grade-three muscle tear in his shoulder after bowling 140 overs in the previous four Tests. The recovery time for such an injury, depending on the severity, is estimated to be between six to 10 weeks - just in time before England travel Down Under. Jacob Bethell replaces Stokes in the playing XI while Ollie Pope will take on the captaincy duties at the Oval.

England Playing XI vs India for 5th Test: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue