England's all-rounder Ben Stokes on Sunday helped the Three Lions claim the throne of T20 cricket in an emphatic way against Pakistan in Melbourne. The English side outclassed the Men in Green at the Melbourne Cricket Ground by 5 wickets to clinch the T20 World Cup for the second time. Stokes, who played a match-winning knock in the 2019 ODI World Cup final was once again the cornerstone for England's win against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup Final. And as another 50 over World Cup is approaching, England is already missing their star all-rounder Stokes, who retired from the ODI setup.
England's coach Matthew Mott gave a big statement on Ben Stokes and stated it would be great to have him in the ODI lineup for England's title defence in India next year. "When he spoke to me about his ODI retirement one of the first things I said was that I'd back any decision he made, but I said to him he didn't necessarily have to retire, he could just not play 50-overs for a while," Mott stated to British media. "And I said: 'You could always unretire." he added.
"That's his decision. It's going to be a World Cup year and we don't play much T20 cricket for a while, but it will be up to him. The more we can get him is great," Mott added. Earlier, former England skipper Michael Vaughan also appealed to Stokes to make a comeback in ODI cricket.
Stokes is regarded as one of the best all-rounders in World Cricket. He has stepped on grand occasions. It was his unbeaten 84 off 98 knock in the 2019 ODI World Cup that helped the team win the 50-over title for the first time. Now the 31-year-old anchored England's chase in the final of the T20 World Cup 2022 against Pakistan as he played an unbeaten 52 off 49. In July 2022, Ben Stokes retired from ODI cricket stating that playing in three formats is "just unsustainable for me now". He had then added, "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 the team their all."
