Ben Stokes' ODI retirement: Nasser Hussain slams crunch scheduling; terms it 'madness for players'

English Test skipper Ben Stokes has decided to hang up his boots from the One-Day Internationals (ODIs) after July 19. The 31-year-old's decision comes as a shock to all, despite going good in the format and having a plethora of 50-overs career left within himself. As for the reason for his retirement, he has stated that it has become "unsustainable" for him to play all three formats, especially since taking over the Test captaincy duties, as he wants to keep himself physically and mentally fresh ahead of each game. However, his retirement decision has forced former English skipper Nasser Hussain to slam the crunch scheduling and has termed it "madness for players".

In his column for Sky Sports, Hussain opined, "It is disappointing news, but it is a reflection of where the cricketing schedule is at the moment. It is madness for players. If the ICC keeps putting on ICC events and individual boards keep filling the gaps with as much cricket as possible, eventually these cricketers will say I'm done."

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"It came as a surprise, to be honest. It is a real shame because he [Stokes] gave us and England fans their greatest day for a very long time in 2019, a day we'll never forget with that World Cup final win. In a battle, if you ask me for one cricketer in the England side who's up for it in a tough situation, who's a winner - you can't teach that, you're not born with that - Stokes has that, and he has that in abundance," added Hussain.

"You thought he [Stokes] would be looked after, in terms of being rested from various white-ball tournaments and formats - he'd already announced he was going to miss white-ball series and The Hundred. To completely knock 50-over cricket on the head is a massive surprise. I guess it's the schedule. The cricketing schedule is crazy at the moment," Hussain concluded.