T20 World Cup 2022: Ben Stokes makes his first appearance at position four

Utilising Ben Stokes's talent to the fullest

England has chiefly utilised Ben Stokes down the order with no clarity of his role in the team. "One of the things that's been said for a while is that he (Stokes) hasn't had a clear role," said coach Matthew Mott. 

"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," he continued. 

England's white-ball captain Jos Buttler insisted on not wasting his talent and forming down the order. He has only batted above number five, three times in his entire T20I career but showed immense success while opening the batting for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2020.

Is England's middle order sorted with Harry Brook & Ben Stokes?

Ben Stokes was rested from England's tour to Pakistan after having a busy summer as a red-ball captain and hasn't played T20I since March 2021 and will now directly replace Ben Duckett at number four in England's World Cup plans. 

Now he will return to the format with England's three-match series against Australia, which starts on Sunday after a lay-off with a calf strain which kept him sidelined on Pakistan's tour. 

Matthew Mott added, "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. 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."

As Ben Stokes is promoted up the order, he is likely to be joined by Harry Brooks in the middle, for whom the coach said "couldn't have done any more" to fix his spot for England's playing XI. 

Ben Stokes, who took retirement from the One Day Internationals (ODI) just a few months back to focus on the test and T20 formats, has just an average of 20.09 after playing 34 T20I matches. Though he has a strike rate of 136.84, he still is deprived of a half-century in the format. 

Is England ready with the T20 World Cup 2022 playing XI?

With Ben Stokes and Harry Brooks's spot being fixed in the middle at fourth and fifth, Dawid Malan re-affirmed his place at third during Pakistan's tour; the only question left unanswered is who will be the opening partner for Jos Buttler between Phil Salt and Alex Hales. 

"That's the big question," Mott said. "I don't think that's resolved, which is probably not a bad thing. Hales did really well at the start [of the tour], but Salt really took his opportunities… he showed all the signs we're looking for. There's a lot of options there, which is a good headache to have."