PAK vs ENG: Ben Stokes ‘on track’ for England comeback after hamstring injury

Ben Stokes is in line to recover for England’s upcoming Test series against Pakistan. The Three Lions’ Test skipper recently underwent scans on his hamstring after he sustained an injury earlier this year while playing for the Northern Superchargers in the Hundred Men’s competition. After tweaking his hamstring, he also missed the Test series against Sri Lanka where Ollie Pope took charge.

Although he did not play against Sri Lanka, he trained with the English team as a part of his recovery process. Stokes has less than two weeks to gain full fitness before England’s opening Test against Pakistan gets underway on October 7 at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

“Ben Stokes today underwent a planned scan on his hamstring injury. Results confirmed his recovery remains on track ahead of the Test tour to Pakistan,” England Cricket said in a statement.

‘Making sure that I’m doing everything right’

Earlier, Stokes had said that he would want to give himself the best chance to recover before the Pakistan Tests. He mentioned that instead of rushing and aggravating his injury, he would give himself more time to heal.

“The recurrence rate of these injuries is 50%, which is quite high. I’d rather take an extra two weeks than run the risk of potentially doing something worse and then putting myself out of the game for longer,” Stokes told ESPNcricinfo.

“I’m just making sure that I’m doing everything right and everything I possibly can to try and give myself a chance to being fit for that first Test,” Stokes added.

Back in 2022, under Stokes, England became the first team to white Pakistan in a Test series on Pakistani soil when they won 3-0. The Brits are currently fifth in the table in the 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC) with 81 points thanks to wins in eight out of 16 matches.