Ben Stokes said it is very unlikely injury will force him to miss the fifth Test against India at The Oval as he argued: “Pain is just an emotion”.
The England captain did not bowl on Saturday against India and then struggled with a bicep problem on the final day, when he took the wicket of KL Rahul but centuries from Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar ensured a draw.
Stokes, who has sent down more deliveries than in any previous series he has played, shrugged off fears he will be forced to sit the last Test, which starts on Thursday, even though he had quipped he had spent four days in bed after he had bowled 44 overs at Lord’s.
“I don’t want to eat my words but the likelihood I won’t play is very unlikely,” he said. Stokes described himself as “mentally decent, physically been better” and elaborated: “It is actually my bicep. It has had quite a lot of workload through it which has been creeping around. I have had a lot of time in the middle doing my time as an all-rounder this week and it flared up. Hopefully it settles down and will be good as gold.”
Stokes believes there could be changes in England’s bowling unit and thinks that they will delay a decision on their final 11 for longer than usual.
Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse have played all four Tests while Jofra Archer, who had only previously played one first-class game in four years, has featured in the last two, while England bowled 143 overs in India’s second innings at Old Trafford
Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue were both in the squad for the Old Trafford Test and are the likely options to come in, though Sam Cook and Jamie Overton had been in contention earlier in the series.
“Everyone will be pretty tired so there will be an assessment of everyone,” Stokes added. “These recovery days will be pretty important and we might have to make a few decisions. We like to get our team out a couple of days before but might have to take a bit longer to give everyone time to recover.”
India have lost the services of Rishabh Pant for the final Test, with coach Gautam Gambhir confirming the wicketkeeper has broken his foot.
But whereas Gambhir argued for substitutes in international cricket, Stokes feels it is ludicrous and thinks the debate should be over.
He explained: “I think it is absolutely ridiculous there is a conversation around an injury replacement. There would be too many loopholes for a team to go through. You pick an 11 for the game and injuries are part of it. You stick me in an MRI scan and you’d get someone else in right away. I think that conversation should be shut down.”
