England will miss the services of their Test captain Ben Stokes beyond the ICC Champions Trophy next year after tests on his injured left hamstring revealed it to have a tear, which will keep the star all-rounder in recovery mode for at least three months.
Confirming the development late on Monday, the England and Wales Cricket Board‘s statement said that the “Durham all-rounder will undergo surgery in January”.
The 33-year-old Stokes suffered the injury while bowling the 13th over during the second innings of England’s third Test against New Zealand.
England’s next Test engagement is the one-off Test in May against Zimbabwe, followed by a five-Test series at home against India in July-August.
Notably, Stokes sat out of four Tests after going down with a similar left hamstring injury while playing in The Hundred in August.
“Something else to overcome…go on then!” Stokes said in a post on X.
“I’ve got so much more left in this tank and so much more blood sweat and tears to go through for my team and this shirt. There’s a reason I have a Phoenix permanently inked on my body.”