England's Ben Stokes reverses ODI retirement before World Cup; set to return for New Zealand series

England will have a major boost before their ODI World Cup campaign gets underway in October as star man Ben Stokes is set to return to the 50-over format. Stokes, 32, was named in England’s latest ODI squad on Wednesday, August 16, as he makes his return to the circuit a year after announcing his retirement from the format. The sensational all-rounder had led England to their only ODI World Cup win in 2019 when he displayed pure quality to lead his team home.

Stokes returns

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The England Test captain was pushed by senior England players and selectors in recent times to make a comeback to the 50-over format, having hanged his boots during the South Africa series last year. However, developments on Wednesday saw him return to the squad as England bid to defend their World Cup crown in India. Stokes has been a regular feature in the England T20I and Test squad but has not played in the ODI team since last July.

The selector’s panel led by former all-rounder Luke Wright intendsto use Ben Stokes as a key member of the team when England get their campaign in the World Cup underway. The 15-member squad for the New Zealand series is most likely to travel to the World Cup where they will play in the curtain-raiser encounter against New Zealand on October 5 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Interestingly, Stokes has not played white-ball cricket for England since the final of the T20 World Cup in Melbourne in November 2022. He has been away from the national set-up for the limited-overs format, promoting retirement talks. However, his return to the national team for the New Zealand series will be a big addition to the side as they enter a crucial couple of months.

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The 32-year-old has represented England in 105 ODI matches, scoring 2924 runs with a best of unbeaten 102 along with three hundreds. He also has 74 wickets in the ODI format before he opted to quit the format. A sensational 84-run knock in the final of the ODI World Cup in 2019 saw England tie the contest before winning it in the Super Over against New Zealand.

England ODI Squad:

Jos Buttler (capt), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes

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