Ben Stokes is inching closer to attaining full bowling fitness as England prepare to come back from behind in the ongoing five-match Test series against India.
Stokes last bowled in the 2nd Ashes Test of 2023 in Lord's and his last international scalp was Australia's tailender Josh Hazlewood.
He kept himself away from bowling in the next three Ashes Tests due to injury concerns and didn't take the ball in hand during England's ODI World Cup campaign in India either.
The 32-year-old then went under the knife and has been trying to hit top gear before unleashing himself in the middle during a game.
The England captain was seen sending a few down in the practice sessions at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi in the lead-up to the fourth Test which suggests that a return to all-round duties isn't far away for one of the greatest allrounders in world cricket at the moment.
Watch Ben Stokes operating with the ball in hand:
England's vice-captain Ollie Pope mentioned that "there is definitely a chance" of Stokes running in with the ball in hand during the course of the fourth Test but added that it depends on "how he pulls up".
"Yeah, I think there's definitely a chance. He has not confirmed it yet even in the changing room but it is good to see..... and depends on he pulls up," Pope said in a pre-match press conference.
Notably, the fourth Test will get underway on Friday (February 23) at the JSCA International Stadium Sports Complex in Ranchi.
England's squad:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, James Anderson, Shoaib Bashir, Ollie Robinson, Daniel Lawrence, Gus Atkinson
Support staff:
Brendon McCullum, Paul Collingwood, Marcus Trescothick, Jeetan Patel, Neil Killeen
