Ben Stokes looks “stripping fit” as he prepares to lead England in their highly-anticipated Test series against India.
The England Test captain had surgery on his left knee at the end of November after the Cricket World Cup as he raced to recover in time for his inclusion in the squad.
Stokes will only feature as a specialist batter as England look to win their first Test series in India since 2012.
“Ben Stokes looks like a greyhound, he’s stripping fit. He’s put the hard work in and everyone knows his work ethic is phenomenal,” said coach Brendon McCullum ahead of the five-match series.
“I’ve seen him running around and I think he’s good to go. We’ll obviously make that call as late as what we need to. But he’s put all the work in and we’ll just have to wait and see.”
McCullum is focused on balancing England’s Test side after Harry Brook returned home due to personal reasons with Surrey’s Dan Lawrence earning a call up.
Brook’s departure means Ben Foakes seems set to feature as a wicketkeeper with Jonny Bairstow taking a place as a specialist batter.
The pitches in India are expected to produce plenty of spin which will see Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir make their Test debuts.
“What balance we go for in terms of the side we’ll work out in the coming days, but the thing we need to be is really brave with whatever we decide,” McCullum said.
“India is the land of opportunity and that’s what sits in front of us now, we’ll take the positive option. Other teams might be better, but we want to be the bravest. We’ve got to do that and that’s got to be factored into selection, too.”
England are arriving only three days before the first Test in Hyderabad on January 25 after spending 10 days at a training camp in Abu Dhabi, whereas in 2012 they played three warm-up fixtures before the series began.
McCullum hopes the training camp have allowed the England squad to adopt a “bulletproof” mindset when they come up against the second-best Test side in the world.
“The guys walked away from Abu Dhabi with a huge amount of confidence that we’ve prepared as well as we possibly can,” McCullum said.
“In the end all you’re trying to do is get guys in the frame of mind where they feel 10 foot tall and bulletproof when they walk out to play.
“We’ve got to take 20 wickets with the ball in each Test and we’ve got to get one more run than them with the bat. It’s not rocket science but it will be the nuances of the game and when to stick and when to twist which will be the fascinating part.”
On Monday, India’s Virat Kohli withdrew for the first two Tests against England for personal reasons. An ankle problem means India’s World Cup hero Mohammed Shami will also miss at least the opening two matches.
Follow England’s five-Test series in India across Sky Sports’ digital platforms with live blogs and reports. The opening game is in Hyderabad from Thursday (4am UK time).
The dates for England Test series in India
First Test – January 25-29 (Hyderabad)
Second Test – February 2-6 (Vizag)
Third Test – February 15-19 (Rajkot)
Fourth Test – February 23-27 (Ranchi)
Fifth Test – March 7-11 (Dharamshala)
