London:England captainBen Stokes has undergone a successful surgery on his left knee in an attempt to be fit for the five-match Test series in India, beginning January next year.
The 32-year-old star all-rounder was unable to bowl in the final three Ashes Tests against Australia this year. He even featured only as a batter at the recently concluded ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 in India, with his body unable to cope with the rigours of bowling. He had announced earlier this month that he would undergo surgery after the tournament.
"In and out. Under the (knife emoji) done. Rehab starts now," Stokes wrote on his social media handles with a picture of himself on crutches outside London's Cromwell Hospital.
The five-match Test series in India is scheduled to start from January 25 in Hyderabad. The England team is expected to fly out to the United Arab Emirates for a warm-up camp two weeks before reaching India. Stokes also announced that he will remain unavailable for the upcoming 2024 Indian Premier League to manage his workload and fitness, with the T20 World Cup scheduled in June 2024.
The most expensive acquisition made by the Chennai Super Kings for the 2023 IPL, Stokes played just two matches of the tournament before injuring his toe during training ahead of the third game where he scored only 15 runs at an average of 7.50 with the ball. He bowled only one over and conceded 18 runs.
The left-hand batter has appeared in 45 games of IPL from 2017 to 2023 and amassed 935 runs with a strike rate of 133.95 including two centuries and two half centuries.
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