"You risk injury.." Stuart Broad explains why Ben Stokes was playing in the Hundred ahead of test series vs Sri Lanka

Stuart Broad said Ben Stokes needed to keep up with the intensity of the game after the test series vs West Indies.

Former England speedster Stuart Broad has explained why England test captain Ben Stokes played the ongoing The Hundred tournament ahead of the three-match test series against Sri Lanka, which will start on August 21.

On August 11, veteran all-rounder Ben Stokes suffered a hamstring injury while playing for the Northern Superchargers in the ongoing The Hundred tournament. Stokes was spotted on crutches after the match.

After his scans, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced that Stokes was ruled out for the remainder of the summer due to a torn hamstring on his left leg.

Thus, the test skipper will miss the upcoming three-match series against Sri Lanka. Batter Ollie Pope will be the standby captain in the absence of Stokes. There has been no replacement of Stokes announced by the ECB board.

Many cricket pundits criticized Stokes for taking part in The Hundred tournament ahead of the home test series against Sri Lanka.

He’s someone who likes to bat, likes to bowl: Stuart Broad backs Stokes’ decision to play in The Hundred

Stuart Broad has backed Stokes’ decision to play in The Hundred to maintain his match fitness during the off-period between the test series against West Indies and Sri Lanka. Broad also shed light on the unfortunate nature of Stokes’ injury.

“He’s someone who likes to bat, likes to bowl. Ultimately you probably up your injury risk if you’re not playing any sort of intensity cricket. You can’t not play any cricket from the end of the West Indies series through to the start of the Sri Lanka series because your body will then be in the field the first day of Sri Lanka going ‘what are you doing, what’s going on?'” Broad told the PA News Agency.

Stokes was still playing for his mental sharpness: Stuart Broad

Broad further highlighted that Stokes was playing The Hundred tournament against some of the world’s best players, which kept his mind in the game-mode.

“You’re better off in a match than nets; I used to hate nets, I needed match intensity and The Hundred was the cricket that was going on that suited that the best. Not that he (Stokes) spent much time in the middle in his games particularly, but he was still playing for his mental sharpness against the world’s best players, Tim Southee etc,” Broad continued.

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