England's Ben Stokes to undergo scan ahead of Pakistan tour
England cricket team captain Ben Stokes is scheduled to undergo a scan next week for his hamstring injury. The 33-year-old all-rounder sustained the injury in early August, which led him to miss England's 2-1 series victory over Sri Lanka. Despite his injury, Stokes has continued training during his recovery period. He recently participated in an extended net session at Durham's Chester-le-Street. Stokes also played in the Celebrity Pro-Am at the PGA Championship golf tournament at Wentworth this week.
Stokes's approach toward recovery
The upcoming scan is part of the ongoing assessment of Stokes's recovery process, and not due to any complications with his injury. In a recent interview with ESPNcricinfo, Stokes emphasized a careful approach toward his return to cricket. He stated, "I'd rather take an extra two weeks than run the risk of potentially doing something worse and then putting myself out of the game for longer."
Commitment to England's upcoming tour
Despite his injury, Stokes was named as the skipper of Team England for the Pakistan tour. The first of the three-Test series is due to begin on October 7. Notably, Ollie Pope will likely step in as captain in case Stokes fails to recover. This contingency plan was previously implemented during England's series against Sri Lanka when wicketkeeper Jamie Smith was moved up in the batting order and an extra bowler was added.
England's squad for Pakistan tour
England's squad for Pakistan tour: Ben Stokes, Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Josh Hull, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Olly Stone, and Chris Woakes.
