Joe Root insists Ben Stokes will be in right frame of mind to play Edgbaston Test despite court case
Joe Root has insisted that despite Ben Stokes' court trial, which is going to start one day after the first Test, he is going to be in right frame of mind to play against India in Edgbaston. He also stated that England would pick their strongest squad and was hopeful of getting runs in the Tests.
Stokes was charged by prosecutors back in January following an incident outside a Bristol night club in September last year. He has since pleaded not guilty to the charge, with his trial set to start on August 6, the day after the scheduled first Test at Edgbaston. However, Joe Root, England's Test captain, had no doubt about Stokes being in the right frame of mind to play in Birmingham despite a looming court appearance.
"We are going to pick our best team and make sure we go into that series with the strongest squad. If Ben's fit to play, he'll be up for selection. He loves playing cricket, he loves being out there, you can see when he's on a cricket field he's fully engaged with what's going on. He wants the ball all the time. He wants to be involved in what's happening and I'm sure that will be exactly the same throughout that game," Root said.
Given the trial is expected to last between five to seven days, Stokes, a dynamic middle-order batsman and a lively seamer, has been also one of England's best fielders, could well miss the second Test of a five-match series that starts at Lord's on August 9. Root was the star for England during the recently concluded ODI series as he scored two consecutive centuries to help get his side over the line against India. Root scored exactly 100 not out on his Yorkshire home ground to seal the series 2-1 in the third ODI, which was his second successive century after his unbeaten 113 during England's 86-run series-leveling win at Lord's.
His latest hundred saw Root become England's outright most prolific century-maker in ODI cricket, with 13 hundreds from 110 innings at this level, surpassing by one the record he had shared previously with Marcus Trescothick.
Root, however, was far from satisfied and stated, "It's not a big thing, I don't think. It's obviously nice but I feel I've got a lot more to give this ODI team for hopefully a long time. Hopefully, there's quite a few more (hundreds) left."
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