On Monday, Superstar England all-rounder Ben Stokes called quits on his time in ODI cricket and announced that Tuesday’s first ODI match against South Africa, held at his home ground Chester-le-Street in Durham, will be his last ODI in the England shirt.
In an unforeseen decision, the 31-year-old England Test captain said that playing all three formats was “just unsustainable for me now” amid the hectic schedule of the England cricket team and that his body couldn’t give his 100 percent to the 50-over format. England’s 2019 World Cup Final hero admitted that it was an “incredibly tough decision to make”.
Stokes had put out his statement on his social media handles. His Instagram post garnered over 400,000 likes and thousands of comments wishing him for the successful ODI career he has had.
One of those comments was of star Indian batsman Virat Kohli, with whom Stokes’ has had many fierce on-field battles. Kohli hailed Stokes as the most competitive cricketer he’s played against.
“You’re the most competitive bloke I’ve ever played against. Respect,” Kohli commented on Stokes’ Instagram post.
Ben Stokes replies to Kohli’s praise
Kohli’s comment went viral and caught attention of the media. Ahead of the ODI against South Africa, in his press conference, Stokes was asked about the compliment from Kohli.
The England all-rounder provided with a great response to Kohli’s word of praise, saying that the Indian batsman is one of the greatest ever to have graced the game, adding that he has always admitted Kohli’s energy and commitment.
“I love Virat. He is going to go down as one of the greatest ever players to play the game in all three formats. He is a phenomenal player and I absolutely love that I have played against someone like him. The energy and the commitment that he gives to the game is something which I have admired even before I started playing against him. When you play guys like that, you understand what it means not just to yourself but everybody else what it means to play the game at the top level,” Stokes said on Sky Sports.
“I loved every single time I have played against him. I am sure we will have some more battles On the field. So yes, it is nice to hear [ what Kohli said].”
Stokes has so far played 104 ODIs for England, scoring 2919 at an average of 39 and strike rate of 95, in addition, he took 74 wickets. Undoubtedly, Stokes’ most memorable performance came a little over three years ago at Lord’s.
