England captain Ben Stokes was ruled out of the Sri Lanka tour with an injury sustained 3 weeks back while playing in the Hundred for the Northern Superchargers. His pulled hamstring caused major trouble for the English team.
England is supposed to enter Pakistan for an away tour from the 2nd of October. The last time they visited the nation, it was under Stokes’s leadership in 2022 that they won the series 3-0 against the hosts.
Ollie Pope, who is the stand-in skipper of the England team in place of the injured Stokes, might not have been in the best of form but might surely be back to track with his game when Stokes takes over his role of captaincy.
Also, English opener Zak Crawley, who has been England’s dependable opener alongside Ben Duckett, was ruled out due to an injury to his little finger. He has also been expected by the ECB to be back by the beginning of the Pakistan tour.
It was Mark Wood, one of England’s most accurate pacers for hostile-pace bowling, who was injured during the 3rd day of the Sri Lanka tests. Pope, who had played with Olly Stone before, has shown some great confidence in the player to replace Wood and produce the same effect and aftermath.
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However, the seriousness of Wood’s injury was not disclosed by the ECB. With a vital tour ahead, they would expect their best fast bowler to be fit and return to form before the Pakistan tour. Even a fully fit Stokes means that England gets their all-rounder captain back, who can roll in his hand in every possible situation he is needed to.
