England captain Ben Stokes shocked the cricket world by announcing his retirement from international cricket after the ongoing third Test against New Zealand in Nottingham. The farewell match became challenging as New Zealand set England a target of 373 after declaring at 288/9, powered by Daryl Mitchell’s unbeaten 100 and Rachin Ravindra’s 94.
At stumps, England were struggling at 103/4, needing 270 more runs for victory. Stokes, who opened the innings for only the third time in his Test career, scored 30 off 20 balls. The 35-year-old said the decision came after feeling emotionally and physically drained from the demands of captaincy.