The veteran English all-rounder, Ben Stokes said it was nice to hear former Indian skipper, Virat Kohli’s message ahead of his ODI retirement, highlighting the admiration he has for the former India captain. Ben Stokes on Monday shocked one and all by announcing his retirement announcement as the all-rounder said he would be playing his last ODI when England face South Africa on Tuesday in Durham.
Ben Stokes opines that the rigors of playing all 3 formats were “unsustainable” for him and he was not able to perform 100 percent for the team in ODIs. Virat Kohli took to social media to send a heartfelt message to Ben Stokes, responding to the retirement post on Instagram. “You’re the most competitive bloke I’ve ever played against. Respect,” Kohli had written.
ALSO READ: Arun Lal wants to see Rishabh Pant as Team India captain
Speaking to the official broadcasters in the lead up to the first ODI between South Africa and England at Chester-le-Street, Talking about Kohli, Stokes said, He’s going to go down as one of the greatest ever in all formats. I’ve loved it every time I’ve played against him. The energy and commitment he gives I’ve always admired. When you play against guys like that, you understand what it means at the top level. It was nice to hear.”
❤️
🏴 #ENGvSA 🇿🇦 | @benstokes38 pic.twitter.com/teNgTVlV7T
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 19, 2022
Notably, Ben Stokes was up against Kohli in the recently-concluded ODI series between England and India, which Rohit Sharma’s men won 2-1. It was during the said series that Stokes decided to give up the ODI format of the game, the all-rounder said on Tuesday.
Ben Stokes further stated, “It was actually after the first one-day game [against India] where it was quite clear – one of the best bits of advice I got was ‘if there’s any doubt, there’s no doubt’. As I said in my statement, this England shirt deserves 100 percent from whoever wears it and unfortunately I didn’t like the feeling of not being able to contribute in the way I wanted to – and the feeling of stopping someone else from being able to progress in this format.”
ALSO READ: Sunil Gavaskar Feels Pant And Hardik Can Perform Like Dhoni And Yuvraj
Stokes was the center of attraction on Tuesday as South Africa won the toss and opted to bat in the first of the 3-match ODI series. The all-rounder, who played a pivotal role in England’s 2019 World Cup triumph, will be looking to make one memorable contribution for the last time in the 50-over format of the game.
