Tim Paine furious over Ben Stokes' return from retirement, said- 'I, me and only me'

Ben Stokes has withdrawn his retirement before the 2023 World Cup to be held in India, which means that he will be seen playing for England in the World Cup. After this decision of Stokes, many experts and veterans have also targeted him and now the name of former Australian Test captain Tim Paine has also been added to this list. Paine criticized Ben Stokes, saying that he cannot just pick and choose incidents.

The 32-year-old Stokes had announced his retirement from ODIs in July last year, saying that playing all three formats had become difficult for him. But now on the request of English captain Jos Buttler and team management, he has withdrawn his ODI retirement. Stokes has also been included in England's 15-member squad for the limited-overs series against New Zealand at home.

Tim Paine has targeted Stokes and said that he is being selfish. "Ben Stokes coming out of retirement in the ODI format, I find it interesting. It's a bit like, 'me, me, me', why is it? Where do I want to play," Paine said on Sen Radio. I will choose when I want to play and I will play only in big tournaments.

Penn continued, "The guys who played for 12 months were told, sorry, thank you. They were told, can you go sit on the bench because I want to play? I don't know, they ( Stokes) is not bowling. Harry Brook or Ben Stokes? Batting wise, it will be a very close, very, very close affair."

Along with this, Penn also said that in the upcoming ODI World Cup, champions England will enter as favorites along with hosts India. "Probably (England are favourites now), them and India. I think if the Aussies get fired up (they can win)," Paine said.