England all-rounder Ben Stokes has recently said that he had played the three-match One Day International series against Pakistan with a lot of pain in his left index finger. However, he was called up to captain the side as a replacement after the entire first-choice squad had to self-isolate following a few positive cases inside the bio-bubble as well.

However, England won the series 3-0. Ben Stokes had earlier fractured his left index finger while playing for Rajasthan Royals in the now-suspended Indian Premier League (IPL). Post-surgery and recovery, he had taken part in six T20 Blast matches for Durham as well.

Notably, he was not a part initially of white-ball matches till seven COVID-19 cases were found in the regular team that forced the entire squad into self-isolation and the ECB had to announced a fresh team for the series as well.

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“It was a totally unexpected set of games for me and the truth is I would never have played under normal circumstances due to how much pain I was in with my left index finger. The surgery was a success after I had broken it at the IPL, but it was still so painful. Sometimes though you just have to grin and bear it, and captaining England is one of those reasons. The finger has healed structurally, but the pain was just ridiculous for where it should be so that is why I have now had an injection to ease it for the rest of the summer,” wrote Ben Stokes in his column for The Mirror.

The veteran all-rounder, however, felt that he would be fine before the Tests against India. He is all set to play for Northern Superchargers in the first few rounds of The Hundred as well before joining the Test squad that will play five Tests from next month.

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“I’ve got a bit of a break now which should give the steroids time to take effect and allow me to play pain free in the Hundred and then against India. The plan is still to take some part in the Hundred, although everyone will need to be as careful as possible where COVID is concerned. I know the ECB are working hard on getting that right. Hopefully my finger won’t be a problem by the time the India Test series comes around, because that is a huge series and one, we are all desperate to perform well in,” concluded Ben Stokes.