Will Ben Stokes play ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026?

Former New Zealand cricketer and renowned commentator Simon Doull has claimed that England are trying to convince star all-rounder Ben Stokes to participate in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, scheduled to be played next year.

The former champions are currently hosting West Indies for a three-match ODI and T20I series as they embarked on a new white-ball era under the leadership of Harry Brook.

Brook had a delightful start to his captaincy tenure as the Three Lions registered a 3-0 clean sweep in ODIs, while they are unassailably 2-0 up in the ongoing T20I series, the final match of which will be played on Tuesday at The Rose Bowl in Southampton.

Despite England’s high-flying start under Brook’s leadership, former New Zealand seamer Doull believes that they would be ‘hanging their hats on’ to convince their Test captain Ben Stokes to feature in next year’s mega event.

Doull claimed that Stokes’s availability for the T20 World Cup 2026 would provide England with more tactical advantage as they would be able to pick two genuine pacers and would still be able to add spinners to their lineup.

"I think England might be hanging their hats on convincing Stokes to play in the 2026 T20 World Cup. I'm serious! They fully believe in that dressing room, and in that management group, that they will convince him to play,” said Doull.

“He then fills that role that means they can go in with two genuine seamers, Stokes and then the spin options they want in the side, which includes Bethell, Jacks, Rashid," he added.

It is pertinent to mention here that Stokes’s last T20I appearance came against Pakistan in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 final and has been out of England’s T20I fold since then and had also missed the subsequent edition of the mega event in 2024.