Ben Stokes opens up on international retirement: 'I'm very happy with my career'

Ben Stokes (Pic: X/@englandcricket)

England's star all-rounder Ben Stokes has retired from international cricket. Expressing his views on the retirement, he said that it was a decision which was not made in a hurry.

"I would just say that at the end of the day, there might be a few questions. I'm sure a few people have. I'm sure you do, and some other people do. But I hope that it can just be respected that, at the end of the day, the most important person in making decisions is myself. And I, didn't take the decision lightly or rush into it. I had many people whom I trust to talk to these things, quite personal things about. And, I tried throughout this whole week to see if I could get myself through and see myself going beyond this week, but it wasn't meant to be. So, look, I'm very happy with everything that I've managed to do over my career. And, sadly, it's no longer going to be something I get to do," he said after the third Test match against New Zealand.

The 35-year-old cricketer also said that he is proud of the performances in his career.

"There are some things that I will miss, and there are also some things that I'm quite happy to be able to say I don't have to worry about that anymore. So, yeah, there's quite a lot of emotion, obviously, but I'm very proud of what I've done, and I'm happy that I feel like I've been able to contribute some kind of happiness to fans who come around and show us support everywhere we go in the world," added Stokes.

The Englishmen suffered a loss by 160 runs against the Tom Latham-led New Zealand at Trent Bridge. With this, the "Black Caps" clinched the three-match Test series by 2-1 against England.

It also marked a disappointing end to Stokes' captaincy era, which began with a 3-0 whitewash of New Zealand at home in 2022. The result also ended England's long unbeaten home run in a series of three or more Tests, which had lasted since 2012.

(With ANI Inputs)