ENG vs IND: Chris Silverwood not to 'push' Ben Stokes to return for Headingley Test

England’s head coach Chris Silverwood has cleared that he won’t be pushing Ben Stokes to return amidst the chaos in the team in the ongoing Test series against India. The hosts lost the Lord’s Test from nowhere on Day five thanks to a stunning turnaround from the Virat Kohli-led side. Their batting issues especially at the top of the order don’t seem to be resolving at the moment.

While changes are expected in the team, Chris has cleared Stokes won’t be asked to come back. The all-rounder withdrew himself last month from the entire series to look after his mental well-being. Silverwood felt it is important that Stokes takes his own time and return with a fresh mind.

“There’s still no time limit on it, to be honest. The important thing is that Ben is okay, his family are okay, and that he comes back strong, and when he when re-enters the frame, he’s ready in his mindset to come back to perform for England, like we know he can. I’m certainly not pushing him for an answer.

“I don’t think that would be the right thing to do. There’s people around him, supporting him, and when he’s ready to come back in, obviously we’ll welcome him back with open arms. But until then he’ll get all the support he needs. There’s no pushing from my point of view, I don’t think you can push these issues. I’ll wait,” England coach said at the press conference on Tuesday.

England likely to call-up Malan and Vince

England are also expected to hand a call-up to Dawid Malan and James Vince who have played at this level before but dropped due to diminishing returns. England don’t have many options with no red-ball cricket being played at the moment. “I’ve got to keep my eyes and ears open, and my mind open to all suggestions, and it’s certainly something that we’ll be talking about this evening in selection, when we all get together.

“It’s not like I’m not in touch with these guys (Malan and Vince). I’ve seen them over the various formats and my relationship with these guys is very good. I’m quite close to them so I wouldn’t say you can’t do it,” Silverwood added.