‘Me, me, me’, there isn’t it?': Tim Paine lashes out at Ben Stokes after retirement U-turn

Former Australian skipper Tim Paine took a cheeky dig at Ben Stokes for reversing his ODI retirement recently. Stokes surprised everyone as he returned to England's ODI fold and has also been selected for the New Zealand series. With his reversal, the England Test captain has also made himself available for the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup.

3 things you need to know

• England are the defending ICC ODI World Cup champions
• The Three Lions will launch the defence of their crown against New Zealand
• Ben Stokes is almost a certain in the ICC ODI World Cup squad

Ben Stokes reverses his ODI retirement decision

In a bid to manage his workload, Stokes decided to hang up his boots from the ODI format to solely concentrate on the shortest and longest format in the game. He also was adjudged the man of the match in the 2019 ICC ODI World Cup as the Three Lions tamed down the Black Caps in a nail-biting encounter.

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Stokes' addition will be a major boost for the England team, who will seek to defend their crown in India this time around. They will kick off their World Cup campaign with a match against New Zealand on 5th October, a rematch of the 2019 World Cup final.

Paine found Stokes' decision to come back 'interesting'. On SEN Radio he said, “Ben Stokes coming out of one-day retirement, I found that interesting. It was a bit of, ‘Me, me, me’, there isn’t it? It was, ‘I’ll pick, and I’ll choose where I want to play and when I want to play’, and ‘I’ll play in the big tournaments’. The guys who played for 12 months, ‘Sorry, thanks. But can you go and sit on the bench because I want to play now?"

English cricketer Ben Stokes (Image: AP)

He also picked England as one of the favourites alongside Australia and host India.

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“I don’t know, he’s not bowling. Harry Brook or Ben Stokes? As a bat. It would be very close, very, very close. Probably (England are now favourites), them and India. I think the Aussies if they can get hot (they can also win).”

England will face New Zealand in a four-match T20I and four-match ODI series.