'Ab to khelna hi pdega' - Fans react as Ben Stokes likely to play for England against South Africa after defeat against Afghanistan

The veteran England all-rounder Ben Stokes is likely to his first match for England in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023. He was not in action in the first three matches due to the injury. “The next 24 hours are critical,” said the English head coach Matthew Mott England’s combination for their upcoming all-important clash against South Africa.

Notably, Ben Stokes came out of his ODI retirement to make himself available for England in the ODI World Cup 2023, in India. However, the fans are still waiting to see him in action on the field.

Interestingly, both South Africa and England are coming off with two shocking defeats against the lower-ranked teams, including the likes of Netherlands and Afghanistan, respectively. 

England looking ahead to forget Afghanistan nightmare with Ben Stokes factor

The Three Lions locked horns with Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Sunday, October 15. Skipper Buttler won the toss and asked the Afghan side to bat first side; batting first, Afghanistan posted a decent total of 284 runs courtesy of opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s blistering knock of 80 runs off just 57 balls, with 8 fours and 4 sixes followed by Ikram Alikhil’s 58 runs, with 3 fours and 2 sixes.

While defending the target, the Afghan spin trio of Mujeeb ur Rahman, Rashid Khan, and Mohammad Nabi completely outmuscled the mighty batting lineup of England. The trio scalped a total of 8 wickets out of England’s 10 wickets in the second innings. Mujeeb and Rashid claimed three wickets each, alongside Nabi’s 2 wickets.

On the other hand, South Africa and the Netherlands played against each other at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on Tuesday, October 17. The Proteas skipper Temba Bavum won the flip of the coin and asked the Dutch to bat first. Batting first, the Netherlands posted a fighting total of 245 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in the allotted 43 overs. Skipper Scott Edwards led the batting from the front and executed a brilliant finish with an unbeaten knock of 78 runs.

Later, the Netherlands bundled out South Africa on the score of 207 runs and won the match by 38 runs to register a historic win.

With said that, the return of Ben Stokes will be crucial for England to make a comeback in the tournament with a win against South Africa.

Here’s how fans reacted to the news Ben Stokes returning to England's playing XI: 

Ab to khelna hi pdega beard bdhane SE kam ni chlega😊😊

— 6Sense (@SixSense011) October 18, 2023

This is a very good news for the England team🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

— Dr Crickter (@drcrickter) October 18, 2023

England Cricket Team is highly relying on him. But the main question is that who will be dropped from team. Dropping Moeen Ali was a wrong a decision from team. Stokes will give them an extra bowling option

— Sports syncs (@moiz_sports) October 18, 2023

Obviously, both the teams have got the thrashing in previous games. 😂

— The CrickFun (@TheCrickFun) October 18, 2023

Finally 🔥🔥💯

— King Kohli's Fan (@ViratFan100) October 18, 2023

Good to see ben stokes

— Ankit Verma (@TechyWicket) October 18, 2023

Hope he don't have any clutch moments against India in this world cup!

— Nikhil Gupta (@Nikhilgupta1104) October 18, 2023

Benstokes -- Meri jaroorat hai mere desh ko mujko jana padega 😀

— Amit Kankar (@AmitSha0004) October 18, 2023

Great news ben stokes 😂

— 🇮🇳 🇮🇳 Shubh Thakur 🇮🇳 🇮🇳 (@imShubh95Thakur) October 18, 2023

Much needed for Eng

— abhay singh (@abhaysingh_13) October 18, 2023