Nick Knight, a former England opener, has described Ben Stokes as a ‘generational cricketer’, citing his influence within the England dressing room after the ODI U-turn. The decision made by the England all-rounder to come out of retirement from ODI cricket before the ICC World Cup 2023 has been a topic of much discussion in the months leading up to the tournament.
Ben Stokes made a brilliant comeback to the England ODI team with a century against New Zealand. His 182-run knock, which included nine sixes and fifteen fours, propelled him to become the highest individual scorer for England in an ODI. The left-handed all-rounder is expected to play a vital role for the team in the ODI World Cup in India.
Speaking to Jamie Alter on his YouTube podcast, Nick Knight said that Stokes’ return to the ODI World Cup could always have been in the plan for the World Cup and stated that Buttler wouldn’t have done a lot of work to convince Stokes much to come out of retirement and lauded him as a big match player for the England side.
“I think we always felt that it was on the cards. I think having had a break from ODIs, got his mind focused on Test match cricket, all that he’d achieved in, being the experience that he had in the 2019 World Cup, being a World Cup champion, being great mates with the team members, great mates with the captain”.
“Look, none of us know exactly how that conversation went with Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes, but my gut feeling is it didn’t take a lot of persuading. And he’s just a big match player, he’s a big tournament player,” Nick Knight said.
Ben Stokes is a crucial middle-order batsman for England, along with Joe Root, Jos Buttler, and Liam Livingstone. Their performances will be pivotal to the defending champions’ chances of retaining the ODI World Cup in India.
I Imagine The Players That Are Lucky Enough To Be In That Dressing Room With Ben Stokes – Nick Knight
Nick Knight believes that the youngsters in the England dressing room would feel lucky enough to share the dressing room alongside Ben Stokes. He reckons that his presence would give confidence to the players in the changing room to do big things for the team in the high-pressure games and hailed him as once generational cricketer.
“And I, I think it’s that with Ben Stokes, I imagine the players that are lucky enough to be in that dressing room with Ben, so we’d have a very similar feeling to the ones that I had, where it might be that you’re going at 10, 15 and over for four or five. Can we do it? Yeah, we can. Absolutely. We can.
“And I think when you’ve got a player and they’re very few that have ever played the game, but when you’ve got a player like that, I mean, you can’t put it into words. I use aura, and you can’t put into too many words what that effect has, A, on your team and, of course, on the opposition team. Absolutely. I mean, once, once in a generation, the cricketer is a bit of an understatement,” Nick Knight added.
The 32-year-old has been the biggest match-winner for England in the last few years producing some memorable knocks for his team in ICC events and playing an important role in the team’s victory in 2019 and 2022 World Cup wins,
