Ben Stokes gets the proper hold of the bat first time after second finger injury

In what can be called a delightful piece of news for England cricket, Ben Stokes is steadily recovering from his injury. The dashing all-rounder, who is currently on an indefinite break from cricket, injured his index finger while playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 for Rajasthan Royals. He underwent a surgery and even played a significant amount of matches after that.

However, his finger issues didn’t get over and he subsequently underwent another surgery. This time, however, Stokes’ condition looks a bit better. On Monday (October 11), the southpaw took to Twitter and shared the fact that he’s now able to get his injured finger around the bat handle for the very first time since April earlier this year.

“12th April Broken Finger, 11th October first time since breaking being able to get it around the handle,” Stokes wrote while sharing the picture of his holding a bat. The comment section got flooded in no time as fans were delighted seeing the all-rounder on the way to recovery.

Ohhh aye lad pic.twitter.com/Q4lDN6HOpD

— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) October 11, 2021

Ben Stokes had two screws and scar tissue removed from the index finger: ECB

Meanwhile, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), shared a statement on October 7, giving the details of Stokes’ second surgery. “Stokes had two screws and scar tissue removed from the index finger of his left hand. He will now undergo an intensive period of rehabilitation for the next four weeks under the supervision of the ECB’s medical team,” ECB stated in the statement.

As Stokes’ recovery is set to take a significant amount of time, he won’t be participating in the upcoming T20 World Cup. The left-handed batter hasn’t been named in England’s squad for Ashes 2021-22 either. Hence, it would be interesting to see if Stokes’ absence would hamper England’s campaign in these assignments.

Meanwhile, Stokes was last seen in action during Pakistan’s tour of England in July. As the majority of England’s first-choice players couldn’t play due to a COVID-19 outbreak, Stokes was named captain of a second-stringed side. Although many didn’t back the Three Lions, they won the ODI series 3-0. However, the stand-in England skipper had to take painkillers throughout the series. Stokes hasn’t played any form of cricket since July 26.