England Captain Ben Stokes Ruled Out Of First Test Against Pakistan

Stokes continues to recover from a hamstring injury

Ben Stokes was ruled out on the Pakistan opener match / Ben Stokes on Facebook.

By Caroline Chepkorir

England captain Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the first Test match against Pakistan due to his ongoing hamstring injury. He suffered the hamstring injury in the Hundred tournament. He confirmed after training on Saturday that he has not yet fully recovered.

The 33-year-old was also absent from the team's 2-1 victory in the three-test home series against Sri Lanka, which Ollie Pope captained. Pope will captain England in the fourth Test after Stokes was sidelined in the opening game of the series.

James Anderson is also not accompanying the team on their tour of Pakistan, as he is participating in Scotland’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. England Jack Leach spinner will be making a comeback; he will be playing Test for the first time since January, and Zak Crawley has recovered from his broken finger and will join the team in the tour.

Stokes had hoped that he would lead his country out in Multan, but unfortunately, he is not ready. He is optimistic about his chances of featuring in the second test, but he is cautious about his possibilities of bowling.

“I tried my hardest to get myself fit for this first game, but I’ve taken the call to miss this one. I’ve not quite managed to get game ready,” Stokes told BBC Sports.

“There is a lot that has to go into my rehab program. We got to a certain point, but looking at the bigger picture of what we’ve got coming up and physically where I’m at, I’m not quite ready to play. It’s always frustrating to miss out. I’ve got some good things to focus on, so even though I’m not playing, I’ve got a goal in mind,” he added.

“I’ve pushed myself incredibly hard and worked really hard with the medical team to get to where I’m at now. I think I’m further ahead than what we expected. I’ll be working just as hard over the next 10 days to try to get myself fit for the second test,” he said.

In the ICC World Test Championship 2023-2025 standings, England is in fourth place with eight wins, seven losses, and a draw after series wins against the West Indies and Sri Lanka, and Pakistan is eighth after their series loss to Bangladesh at home.