England Test captain Ben Stokes, who announced his retirement from the ODI format on Monday, July 18, has returned the compliment to Virat Kohli, saying he has always admired the energy and commitment that the former India skipper brings to the field.
Stokes shared a retirement post to let his fans know of his decision, and the star India batter commented on the post, saying that the all-rounder is among the greatest cricketers to have played the sport.
"Look, Virat is going to go down as one of the greatest players to play the game in all three formats. He is a phenomenal player. And I have absolutely loved every time I have played against someone like him," Stokes told Sky Sports.
He also added that his commitment was a reason to admire him, "The energy and the commitment that he gives to the game is something I have always admired even before I started playing against him. When you play against guys like that, you understand sort of what it means to not just yourself but for everybody else who was lucky enough to play at the top level."
Stokes, who took over the Test captaincy from Joe Root, has led the team to four consecutive victories — three over New Zealand and one over India. Kohli, who is facing a lean patch currently, scored just 11 and 20 runs in the two innings that he played in the rescheduled Test.
The legendary ODI World Cup winner also said that he was looking to future battles with Kohli on the pitch, "I am sure we will have some other battles on the field. It was nice to hear what he (Kohli) said."
Kohli has as many as 70 international hundreds under his belt. But, he has not scored a ton since November 2019. The veteran batter has struggled even in the recently concluded tour of England.
He has been rested from the West Indies series beginning July 22.
Meanwhile, 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 a 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 they all. It's time for someone else to progress as cricket and make incredible memories as I have over the last 11 years,” Stokes wrote in his long post.
