With England white-ball captain Jos Buttler keen to have Ben Stokes as a permanent member of the 'top four', the 31-year-old all-rounder will bat at No.4 in the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia, a position he has never batted at in the 34 T20Is so far.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
England's white-ball coach Matthew Mott too said Stokes had been shuffling up and down the order during his career and that he wanted to give a clear role to the Test captain, who missed the seven-match T20I series against Pakistan recently and joined the T20 World Cup squad in Australia directly.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"One of the things that's been said for a while is that he (Stokes) hasn't had a clear role," Mott was quoted as saying by The Cricketer.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"And Jos (Buttler) in particular is clear that he's a top-four player. Those conditions in Australia will suit the way he plays. You always have a bit of flexibility with the batting but he will be expected to be higher in the innings.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I got a couple of texts (from Stokes) on Sunday. He was jumping on that flight ready to go. We've deliberately left him alone. He's had a busy summer," added Mott.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"There's a lot of time before that first World Cup game and when we get to Australia, we'll be really clear with everybody on what the expectations are with their roles."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Stokes, who recently retired from One-day International cricket to concentrate on Tests and T20Is, averages just over 20 but hasn't played a T20I since March 2021. Last year he played just one T20 for IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals, five matches for Durham in T20 Blast and a couple of matches for Northern Superchargers in The Hundred.<\/p>\r\n\r\n