‘Stokes will come back,’ says McCullum after England captain’s injury-hit Pakistan tour

England coach Brendon McCullum backed ‘hurting’ Ben Stokes to come back stronger after they fell to a 2-1 defeat in the Test series in Pakistan on the captain’s return from a hamstring injury.

Stokes had missed the historic first Test in Multan that England won by an innings and 47 runs, but he recovered after a two-month lay-off to make himself available ahead of the second Test.

On a reused pitch in Multan, England fell to a 152-run defeat to the hosts with the 33-year-old all-rounder managing 1 and 37 with the bat and bowling just 10 overs without a wicket.

Stokes did not have much luck in the third Test either, collecting just 15 runs over the two innings as Pakistan made it back-to-back wins to win the three-match series.

“He's disappointed but he's our skipper and we know he's tough," McCullum told BBC Sport.

"He'll make sure he'll come back. It's our job to make sure we wrap our arms around him and help him along the way."

Beaten in Rawalpindi. Congratulations to Pakistan on series victory pic.twitter.com/5Z4FlIHY7X

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) October 26, 2024

Stokes has suffered with a left knee problem for the past couple of years before picking up his hamstring injury during the Hundred while playing for Northern Superchargers.

“He is disappointed, naturally. We all know how competitive and driven the skipper is. He'll be hurting right now with how the series has unfolded,” McCullum said.

"That injury was quite significant. He had to put in a lot of graft and subconsciously maybe you're not quite as screwed down as you can be in terms of decision-making. That's natural."

England will next be in red-ball action in the three-match Test series in New Zealand, which is slated to begin at the end of November.