Ben Stokes
Ben Stokes Credits: Twitter

Former England captain Michael Vaughan hit back at the former Australian skipper Tim Paine over his comments on Ben Stokes’s return to ODI cricket for the World Cup later this year in India. The all-rounder took a U-turn to return to the ODI side to defend their title.

England all-rounder is set to feature in ODIs as a pure batter owing to a chronic knee injury that hampered his all-around role during the Ashes. Ben Stokes has established himself as one of the modern-day greats of the game and has been a revelation for the nation since the 2019 World Cup for England and took over the Test captaincy for Joe Root in test cricket and also played a huge role in England’s T20 World Cup title win.

Speaking to SEN Tasmania, Tim Paine slammed the England test skipper Ben Stokes for coming out of the one-day retirement as he lambasted him for being more selfish about his cricket to come back to play only the big tournaments which ruin the chances of the other players in the team and raised his concern about Harry Brook’s role in the team, as he was dropped from the team in the favour of Ben Stokes.

“Ben Stokes coming out of one-day retirement, I found that interesting. It was a bit of, ‘Me, me, me’, there isn’t it? It was, ‘I’ll pick and I’ll choose where I want to play and when I want to play’, and, ‘I’ll play in the big tournaments’. The guys who played for 12 months, ‘Sorry, thanks. But can you go and sit on the bench because I want to play now?’”

Tim Paine
Tim Paine Credits: Twitter

“I don’t know, he’s not bowling. Harry Brook or Ben Stokes? As a bat. It would be very close, very, very close,” Tim Paine said.

Taking his Twitter account, Michael Vaughan defended Ben Stokes’s decision to make a comeback into the team, as he termed him as one of the most selfless cricketers in the England team and hit back at Tim Paine over his statement on Ben Stokes.

“Ben Stokes is the most selfless cricketer I have ever known .. He puts Team before himself more than any other player .. Ridiculous suggestion from Tim ..” Michael Vaughan tweeted.

The English all-rounder announced a shocking retirement from the 50-over format in July 2022. According to reports, Ben Stokes is likely to bat in the middle order for the English side despite the doubts over his bowling ability in the team as the team is prepared to play him as a batter in the team for the World Cup.