Ben Stokes to "think hard" about ODI future after early World Cup exit

NEW DELHI: Ben Stokes admitted he will have to "think hard about" whether to continue playing ODIs for England after his side finished a disappointing ICC Men's Cricket World Cup campaign with a victory over Pakistan.

Stokes, who retired from ODIs in July last year, came out of ODI retirement to help his side with their Cricket World Cup title defence in India. But the decision looked to have backfired as England's title defence ended early after the Three Lions were eliminated in the group stage.

"I think to answer that one, it goes back to my initial reason for stepping away from this format, to ease my workload. As Test captain, there is a lot of stuff coming up. There's a lot of stuff that I want to do with that Test team. It will be a decision that I'm probably going to have to think about, quite hard, to produce an outcome," Stokes told Sky Sports.

"You never know the body might be in a lot better position than it was in the last 18 months. I put a lot of hard work in away from cricket to give myself the best chance of a quicker recovery. And Christmas and everything is coming up. The main thing to me is getting this knee right and being ready to go," he added.

Despite a disappointing performance, England managed to restore some pride by securing victories in their last two matches and confirmed their qualification for the 2025 Champions Trophy.

Stokes stood out with the bat, showcasing his prowess with a big-hitting century against the Netherlands and an impressive 84 in Saturday's 93-run triumph over Pakistan.

The poor performance of England in India has sparked widespread calls for significant changes in the team's personnel. The former ODI skipper expressed relief at no longer having to concern himself with such matters.

"When you look at the personnel that we have available it is very, very exciting and it's very, very good. In terms of this group, that's a decision that isn't up to me. But I think everybody knows the class that the dressing room has.

"I think they'll just have to do some kind of discussion, from the top, and see where people go," Stokes said.