Ben Stokes: 'Loved every time I have played against Virat Kohli'

Ben Stokes has announced his retirement from ODIs. He has applauded Virat Kohli as a great player and cherished every moment he played alongside him.

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English all-rounder Ben Stokes has stunned the cricketing world after announcing his retirement from One-Day Internationals at 31. However, he will continue to give his valuable services to Test cricket and Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is). Meanwhile, he recalled his glorious time in the ODIs, including the ICC World Cup win in 2019. One of his memorable moments in the format happens to be playing against former Indian skipper and top-order batter Virat Kohli. Following Stokes' retirement, Kohli had lauded the Englishman for his glorious career, calling him "the most competitive bloke".

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Talking to Sky Sports, Stokes spoke about Kohli's ongoing grey patch and said, "Look, Virat is going to go down as one of the greatest players to play the game in all three formats. He is a phenomenal player. And, I have loved every time I have played against someone like him."

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"The energy and the commitment that he gives to the game is something I had always admired even before I started playing against him. When you play against guys like that, you understand what it means, not just for yourself but for everybody lucky enough to play at the top level. I am sure we will have some other battles on the field. It was nice to hear what he [Kohli] said," added Stokes.

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Explaining his decision to retire from ODIs, Stokes somewhat blamed the crunch scheduling and told Test Match Special, "We are not cars. You can't just fill us up; we'll go out there and be ready to be fuelled up again. We had a Test series, and then, the one-day team had a series going on simultaneously - that was a bit silly."

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"The more cricket played, the better for the sport, but you want a product of the highest quality. You want the best players to be playing as much as possible, all the time, and it isn't just me or us. You see it all around the world now where teams have to rest some players in a certain series, so they feel like they are getting a break," Stokes concluded.