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Former England pacer Stuart Broad has issued a warning on Ben Stokes potentially becoming England's ODI captain after Jos Buttler’s resignation. Following the Champions Trophy 2025 failure, Buttler relinquished the leadership role in both limited-over formats. After Buttler’s move, there are several reports that Stokes might return to England’s ODI set up as captain. Some reports also claimed that young Harry Brook might be handed the captaincy mantle in limited overs of the sport. Back in 2022, Stokes announced his retirement from ODI cricket due to burnout and stressful international fixtures before returning to play the ODI World Cup 2023.
Penning a column on British outlet Daily Mail, Stuart Broad wrote, "Going for Stokes would be a move of desperation. I would be lost for words if England appointed him. Firstly, there is the schedule. He's not going to the Indian Premier League to try to prioritise the Test match team and get his physicality right for the big events on the horizon."
"How many overs has Stokes bowled successfully in the last three years while battling his knee injuries? Not many. And you're going to add another eight to 10 overs in a 50-over format onto his workload? The mathematics of that make no sense," added Broad.
The hierarchy are not bothered by 50-over cricket: Stuart Broad
Stuart Broad stated that the hierarchy are not bothered about the ODI format of the sport. Former England pacer also added it won’t be sensible to appoint Stokes 50-over captain and put his fitness to a risk. "The hierarchy are not bothered by 50-over cricket. We have no structure to be able to train our players to play it, so why would you risk Ben Stokes' body to captain something like that?" wrote Broad.
Recently, young England batter Harry Brook pulled out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 to focus on international cricket during the time when his national side is facing crisis after the notable Champions Trophy 2025 debacle. Brook was supposed to be a part of Delhi Capitals (DC) in the cash-rich league.
