'Still didn’t know why I was in such pain' - Ben Stokes opens up on his abdominal strain injury

The rising threat of the WHO-approved global pandemic that is the novel Coronavirus- COVID-19- has proceeded to put the entire world into a lockdown. Borders have been sealed, schools, colleges, libraries, gyms, bars, cinema halls- everything has been closed off- while the employees have been asked to work from home.

Cricket, just like other sports, has seen its calendar go for a toss as almost every bilateral/multilateral rubber has been either called-off or postponed.

England’s Test tour of Sri Lanka is one such rubber that was postponed due to COVID-19, and all-rounder Ben Stokes feels that while it is disappointing to miss out on playing Test cricket in Sri Lanka, the break will give him a chance to recover from the stomach injury, which had ruled him out of the warm-up fixture in the lead-up to the series.

“One thing the break has allowed me to do is to get over the stomach injury that caused me to miss the second warm-up match in Colombo. I’d had a bat, then sat down in a chair and had some lunch,” Stokes was quoted as saying by India.com.

Ben Stokes had suffered an injury during a net-session

He added: “When I got up to move it felt like someone was stabbing me in my abdomen, it was so painful. The doctor thought it might be appendicitis, but a scan ruled that out, and we still didn’t know why I was in such pain.”

Stokes is disappointed with the fact that the Test series against Sri Lanka is postponed but the champion all-rounder understands the gravity of the situation that the world is facing currently and believes that health must take the topmost priority.

“This is the reality of where we are at in the world, and at this moment in time, the most important thing is everybody’s health,” the all-rounder added.

Stokes will be featuring for the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL but given the uncertainty surrounding the staging of the 13th edition, the charismatic all-rounder believes that it is very difficult to plan too far ahead in the future.