England camp hopeful of Stokes bowling on Day 5 with the captain nursing a cramp and didn’t bowl on day four.
England camp hope ‘stiff and sore’ Stokes can bowl on fifth day at Old Trafford.
After KL Rahul and Shubman Gill revealed their need on Ben Stokes’ old-ball danger in Manchester, England are “hopeful” that he will be well enough to bowl them to a series victory on Sunday. The England medical staff will evaluate Stokes, the series’ top wicket-taker, overnight after he was judged too “stiff and sore” to bowl during the first 63 overs of India’s second innings at Old Trafford.
India overcame a terrible start to bat through two complete sessions without suffering any losses, thanks to an unbroken 174 for the third wicket in 62.1 overs from Rahul and Gill. After the ball became soft, England’s seamers found it difficult to generate opportunities and missed Stokes’ chance to open the game, with the exception of one drop at backward point by Liam Dawson off Brydon Carse.
After undergoing a rigorous rehabilitation program after hamstring surgery in January, Stokes was ready to play India. He has already bowled 129 overs in the series, which is his personal record for a Test series. After a left leg cramp forced him to leave on the third day, he returned later that night and scored his maiden Test century in almost two years on the fourth day.
“He’s a bit stiff and sore,” Marcus Trescothick, England’s assistant coach, said when asked if Stokes would bowl on Sunday. “He’s had quite a big workload in the last few weeks, and then batting in the first innings, he was getting quite a bit of cramp. We are hoping that with another night’s rest and a bit more physio work overnight, he’ll be back and doing a bit tomorrow.”
Stokes was seen clutching his hamstring while chasing a ball in the outfield, but Trescothick played down the concern. “It’s just a build-up,” he said. “It’s just such a heavy workload, from where he’s been to what he’s doing. It’s just trying to monitor it, and obviously the cramp that he was getting yesterday, you have that little bit of worry… We’ll see what he’s like tomorrow.”