Ben Stokes contemplates bowling after consecutive defeats against India

Backtoback heavy defeats against India have compelled England captain Ben Stokes to consider an early return to bowling with head coach Brendon McCullum admitting that although its a good sign they dont want the allrounder to push himself unnecessarilyStokes who is still recovering from a knee surgery hasnt bowled since the second Ashes Test in June last yearWell its good that hes actually getting into a state where he thinks he might bowl McCullum was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo on MondayBut Ben is clever hes really clever as well He wont bowl unless he thinks hes legitimately able to bowl The problem would be if he starts getting into a spell and then he cant get out of the spell So well see what unfolds If he does get that bit between his teeth then lets see where the danger lies there and try and pull him away from it But its a good sign McCullum addedAhead of the IND vs ENG 3rd Test Stokes had said he pinky promised his physiotherapist he wont be bowling in the ongoing seriesBut when asked if he will be reprising his allrounders role after the 434run defeat in the IND vs ENG 3rd Test on Sunday Stokes said Im not saying yes Im not saying noMe being me Im always very optimistic about most things That will be a more detailed chat with the medical team about what workload I have done to pass me off as not being a massive riskAlso ReadYoung guns and gloryDuring the Rajkot Test Stokes had even trained at 100 per cent intensity and conceded that he felt pretty goodI managed to bowl at 100 per cent in one of the warmup days here which made me feel pretty good I felt like I could have bowled in the game but that would have been stupidAfter winning the series opener by 28 runs England fell to a 106run defeat followed by one of their worst losses in Rajkot to go 21 down in the series with matches left in Ranchi and DharamsalaThe England team would benefit immensely if the pace allrounder started bowling again The visitors opted to field just one seamer in the first two Tests They dropped Shoaib Bashir to pick both James Anderson and Mark Wood in the third gameEnglands Bazball approach has also backfired big time in the third Test which they lost by a massive 434 runs their largest defeat in terms of runs since 1934But McCullum said while the defeat is definitely hurting the visitors they will continue with their attacking Bazball approach in the remainder of the fivematch seriesMcCullum said he has no regrets about their approachWell turn the page and go quids in again trying to put India under pressure McCullum was quoted as saying by BBC SportHopefully in seven or eight days well be talking about how exciting it is to be heading into a deciderWith agency inputs