England’s test team captain and their world cup hero, Benjamin Stokes announced to take retirement from ODI cricket on this Monday. He played his last ODI on Tuesday against South Africa and scored 5 runs on 11 deliveries in his farewell inning.
Stokes represented England in 105 ODI games and scored 1924 runs with an average of 38.98, including three centuries and taken 74 wickets.
The most remarkable achievement of his career will remain his unbeaten inning on 82 against New Zealand, which pushed the game to a super over, which England clinched.
Stokes was recently made full time test captain of England team and under his leadership England completed a clean sweep against New Zealand. England also won remaining fifth test match against India under Ben stokes captaincy.
Read more: Crazy cricketing schedule pushed Stokes out of One Day cricket, Nasser Hussain
Stokes while announcing his retirement said: “This has been an incredibly tough decision to make. I have loved every minute of playing with my mates for England. We have had an incredible journey on the way.
“As hard as a decision as this was to come to, it’s not as hard dealing with the fact I can’t give my teammates 100% of myself in this format anymore. The England shirt deserves nothing less from anyone who wears it.”
“Three formats are just unsustainable for me now,” he said. “Not only do I feel that my body is letting me down because of the schedule and what is expected of us, but I also feel that I am taking the place of another player who can give Jos and the rest of the team their all.”
💬 Three formats are just unsustainable for me now…
Ben Stokes hangs up his boots from ODI cricket sighting issues with the schedule 👀 pic.twitter.com/WKMTi5LIXd
— England's Barmy Army 🏴🎺 (@TheBarmyArmy) July 18, 2022
“It’s time for someone else to progress as a cricketer and make incredible memories like I have over the past 11 years. I will give everything I have to Test cricket, and now, with this decision, I feel I can also give my total commitment to the T20 format.”
“I would like to wish Jos Buttler, Matthew Mott, the players and the support staff every success going forward. We have made great strides in white-ball cricket over the past seven years, and the future looks bright.”
“I have loved all 104 games I have played so far, I’ve got one more, and it feels amazing to be playing my last game at my home ground in Durham. As always, the England fans have always been there for me and will continue to be there. You’re the best fans in the world. I hope we can win on Tuesday and set the series up nicely against South Africa.”
Former Indian captain and legend of the game Virat Kohli replying to Ben Stokes’ retirement instagram post commented “You’re the most competitive bloke I’ve ever played against. Respect.”
Read more: Buttler hints at end of test cricket for him after white-ball captaincy
Ben stokes was involved in only 9 ODI games since his heroics in 2019 world cup final. Cricket analysts have expressed their reservations about the future of game and how unsustainable it has become for players to be involved in every game their country or franchise plays.