England vs India 2018: Ben Stokes most likely to be ruled out of third Test

Cricketer Ben Stokes Appears In Court Charged With Affray
Cricketer Ben Stokes outside Bristol Court

England all-rounder Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the third Test against India, owing to the ongoing trial for affray at a Bristol court.

Although the trial ends 24 hours before the team is announced for the third Test at Trent Bridge, Stokes is most likely to miss the game as "there is a fear he may be too exhausted to play at Trent Bridge", according to a report in The Telegraph. The trial resumes on Monday.

With the ongoing trial in place, a cricket discipline case has been put on hold, which will begin 48 hours after the trial ends.

In Stokes' absence, Chris Woakes walked into the side and became just the 10th player to score a century and take a five-wicket haul in a Test innings at Lord's.

Stokes was part of the first Test and took two wickets in the first innings and four in the second.

Before the Lord's Test, Root had spoken about Stokes' importance in the dressing room and how it's 'always a miss' when he is not part of the playing XI.

"It's always a miss whenever he's not playing but we've got a good group of players underneath this side who have got an opportunity whoever it is to come in and put in a really strong Test performance," said Root.

"So I'll have to sit down with the selection group and think clearly about what's the right squad for that surface at Lord's and then pick accordingly," he had said then.

Here's the England squad for the second Test that took place at Lord's:

Joe Root(c), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Alastair Cook, Sam Curran, Keaton Jennings, Ollie Pope, James Porter, Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes

England is currently leading the series 2-0.

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