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England's star all-rounder Ben Stokes shocked the cricketing world by announcing his retirement from ODI format on July 18. Stokes cited fitness issues as the main reason why he could not continue playing three formats. Reacting to his announcement post on Instagram, Virat Kohli praised the World Cup-winning all-rounder.
“You’re the most competitive bloke I’ve ever played against. Respect,” Kohli wrote in the comments section.
England’s new Test captain’s selfless move was also lauded by former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin as he tweeted, “No one listens to his body better than the player himself. A well thought, selfless decision by a great player who gave his best to England cricket.”
Stokes and Kohli recently went up against each other in the rescheduled Test and the ODI series. Stokes struggled to score big runs in the ODI series as well. After a duck at The Oval which contributed to England's record collapse, Stokes registered scores of 27 and 21 in the following games.
Stokes' last half-century in the 50-over format came against India last year. Stokes scored 99 runs in the losing cause on England's tour of India. He missed few series because of his injury as well which he suffered during Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021.
“Three formats are just unsustainable for me now. Not only do I feel that my body is letting me down because of the scheduled 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 cricket and make incredible memories like I have over the last 11 years,” Stokes wrote in his long post.
Stokes will play his last ODI at his hometown against South Africa on July 18. Recently, Stokes also decided to skip The Hundred to focus on Test cricket. Under Stokes captaincy in the longest format, England have won four games while chasing.
