England’s terrific all-rounder Ben Stokes has announced retirement from ODI Cricket. The 31-year-old will officially bid farewell to One-Day Internationals on Tuesday, featuring in his career’s last match versus South Africa in Durham.
Stokes, undertaking his current ODI form, feels a player waiting to serve England with all potential deserves a better space in the team than him. He took it to Twitter to announce his decision and said it was not easy to give up on the post. However, he had to after struggling to deal with three formats at once.
Ben Stokes reveals reason behind his ODI retirement
His statements read,
“I will play my last game for England in ODI cricket on Tuesday in Durham. I have decided to retire from this format.
“This has been an incredibly tough decision to make. I have loved every minute of playing with my mates for England. We have had an incredible journey on the way,”
“As hard as a decision as this was to come to, it’s not as hard dealing with the fact I can’t give my teammates 100% of myself in this format anymore. The England shirt deserves nothing less from anyone who wears it.
“Three formats are just unsustainable for me now. Not only do I feel that my body is letting me down because of the schedule and what is expected of us, but I also feel that I am taking the place of another player who can give Jos and the rest of the team their all,”
“It’s time for someone else to progress as a cricketer and make incredible memories like I have over the past 11 years. I will give everything I have to Test cricket, and now, with this decision, I feel I can also give my total commitment to the T20 format,”
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— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) July 18, 2022
Notably, Stokes recently took over Joe Root as the team’s Test skipper. He will continue to serve the nation in T20I and Test cricket. Stokes made his ODI debut against Ireland in 2011. He will retire as an ODI player featuring in the 105th match on Tuesday against the Proteas.
Ending the goodbye note, the all-rounder rated his fans ‘best in the world’ and hopes for a lot of support from them in future as well. He is looking to end his ODI career with a victory over South Africa.
