ICC World Cup | Ben Stokes ‘in a good place’ as he targets return for England vs. South Africa

England’s Ben Stokes during practice.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Ben Stokes declared himself ready Thursday to play in England’s crucial Cricket World Cup match against South Africa after missing the first three games because of injury.

Stokes, the match-winner in the 2019 final, has been struggling with a hip problem sustained a week before the World Cup and missed the losses to New Zealand and Afghanistan, which came either side of a win over Bangladesh.

England next faces the Proteas on Saturday with its title defense on the rocks.

“It was a frustrating little niggle to get before the tournament,” the test captain told the BBC before a training session at the Wankhede Stadium, “but I have worked very hard to get back to where I am and I am making myself ready to be available for selection.

“We have had a few days off since the last game and the first training session here in Mumbai. I’ll give it a good push but, yes, I think everything is pretty good. I am in a good place.”

England will hope Stokes’ return will resuscitate the team’s chances in India and he is relishing the pressure.

“I deal with it pretty easy to be honest, because I know I am one person in a team sport,” he said. “No one looks to one person in this team to inspire them or anything like that. It is not the case that if I do come in then all of a sudden we are going to do well.

“It is just one of those things that gets spoken about a lot but I don’t read into too much. Everyone that walks out on to that field for England is a match-winner and can do something individually that can win us a game. We just need to tone it down a bit on me coming back in.”

Stokes will only be a batter at this World Cup as he manages his workload after the Ashes.