Ben Stokes has undergone a second surgery on the troublesome left index finger, the ECB confirmed on Thursday (October 7). Stokes fractured his finger when he took a catch in the outfield during an IPL game in April earlier this year and was ruled out for a prolonged period of time.

He underwent a surgery and made a return to the T20 Blast tournament and was later named skipper of a new-look squad for the ODI series against Pakistan as a result of the first-choice squad getting isolated due to Covid fears. The allrounder later revealed that he played the series through a lot of pain.

Just before the start of the Test series against India, Stokes had announced that he will be taking an indefinite break from the sport in order to focus on his mental wellbeing and rest his finger further. The decision effectively ruled him out of the T20 World Cup with participation in the Ashes also remaining in doubt.

However, with the finger still not completely healed, the 30-year-old underwent a second surgery on October 4 according to the ECB which is set to rule him out of the Australia tour. He had two screws and scar tissue removed from the index finger.

“He will now undergo an intensive period of rehabilitation for the next four weeks under the supervision of the ECB’s medical team,” ECB said in a statement.