England vs New Zealand 3rd Test: The third test match between England and New Zealand is being played in Nottingham. To win the match, England has to score 270 runs on the last day. On the fourth day of the match, England captain Ben Stokes suddenly announced his retirement from international cricket. On the fourth day, Stokes ended his career by playing an inning of 30 runs in 20 balls.
Fans were surprised by his sudden retirement. Stokes has also given the real reason for ending his cricket career of about 15 years. Stokes says that this decision has not been taken due to any controversy or external pressure.
Stokes said that there was a huge change in him emotionally after the Australia tour. England’s 4-1 defeat affected him mentally a lot and during that time he realized that he no longer had the same passion as before. Referring to a conversation with his wife, he said, “The emotional aspect of this after Australia is this… I told my wife this, to be honest, I don’t think I have any strength left to overcome this.”
Stokes said, “As I talked about it with my wife and other people, things got more and more complicated. Over the last five-six weeks, I had to face another thing… I felt I had to overcome that. I think I’ve been pretty good throughout my career at overcoming disappointments on and off the field, but this was different.”
Stokes admitted that the constant pressure of international cricket had now become more challenging for him than ever before. He said, “The work we do is very demanding, both physically and mentally. Even the other things, the hard work and effort you have to do, have become a bit tiring these days.”
fitness has been a challenge
He admitted that maintaining fitness at the age of 35 had also become a big challenge. Stokes said, “I think I have to work very hard physically to continue my performance on the field. Do I have the drive to keep doing all this because I know how much hard work it takes to get on the field and play for this country?”
Although the decision to retire was not an easy one, Stokes said, “This decision is really what is best for me at this time. I hope it is also best for the team going forward, but it will also allow me to continue to love the game that has given me so much.”
Ben Stokes has played 122 Tests, 114 ODIs and 43 T20 matches for England. In Test cricket, Stokes has taken 252 wickets while bowling, apart from this he has scored 7273 runs while batting. In ODI he has scored 74 wickets and 3463 runs. Apart from this, he has scored 585 runs and 26 wickets in T20.
