Kevin Pietersen demands to bring Ben Stokes back into the England XI

Ben Stokes must be a relieved man after he was cleared of affray by the Bristol Crown Court for his involvement in the brawl outside a Bristol nightclub. Stokes was immediately after added into the England squad for the 3rd Test against India. Earlier, he had to miss out on the 2nd Test at Lord’s as he had to be present in the court for the week-long trial.

However, despite being added to the squad for the 3rd Test, there is uncertainty about his place in the XI. In his absence, Chris Woakes was brought in to fill in the vacant slot. The right-handed all-rounder grabbed the opportunity with both hands. Woakes picked 4 wickets in the game including that of the dangerous Virat Kohli. Furthermore, he also scored a blistering century when his side seemed to be in all sorts of trouble.

Ben Stokes had made his impact in the first Test. Although he only managed to score 27 runs in two innings with the bat, he was exceptional with his bowling spells. He was spitting fire and that was probably the best he has bowled in the last few months. This 27-year-old all-rounder also picked the crucial wicket of Indian skipper Virat Kohli in the second innings of the Edgbaston Test just as he was looking dangerous batting on 51.

The selection conundrum!

It was assumed that Stokes wouldn’t be available for the 3rd Test due to the court hearing. But, since the final verdict is now out, he is back with the squad. This will now give the team management and the skipper a headache when they sit to finalize the XI ahead of the Trent Bridge game. England seems to have a pretty balanced line-up now and accommodating both Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes will mean they have to let Adil Rashid go.

Former England captain, Kevin Pietersen also joined the conversation and put up a tweet which said, “#BringStokesBack”.

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