The flamboyant English all-rounder, Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the upcoming home 2-match Test series against New Zealand as he is yet to recover from the finger injury that he sustained while fielding during suspended IPL 2021. He returned home from India and underwent surgery on the injured finger and now he has been sidelined from the Test series versus the Kiwis, which is scheduled to be commencing on June 2 at Lord’s.

England Head coach, Chris Silverwood, has hinted that Ben Stokes will be expected to make a comeback in the T20 Blast which will run from June 9 to July 16. As per teh quotes in ESPNCricinfo, Silverwood said, “[He] is making excellent progress. If he continues to improve without any impact on his rehabilitation, we could see him return next month for Durham in the Vitality Blast competition.”

ALSO READ: Indian women cricketers to receive the prize money of T20 World Cup 2020 this week

He further added, “It’ll be a slow return. We’re potentially looking at the T20 Blast and then a gradual build back into international cricket for him. He has started bowling again and he’s not far off hitting a few balls as well. He’s progressing nicely and on course for where we expected him to be.”

Apart from Ben Stokes, speedster Jofra Archer will also be missing the Test series against New Zealand. Archer earlier pulled out of the IPL 2021 as he underwent an operation on the middle finger of his right hand to remove a splinter of glass following a bizarre incident involving a fish tank.

ALSO READ: India May Start Practice After Three Days Of Hard Quarantine In England

However, another elbow injury has troubled the fast bowler since the tour of South Africa in January last year – including when on the India tour he had to take a series of cortisone injections to go through to the T20I series. Following the Test series with New Zealand, the Three Lions will host Sri Lanka and Pakistan for white-ball matches before hosting India for a 5-Test series.