To aid his rehabilitation from injury, England Test captain Ben Stokes gave up alcohol at the start of 2025 as he targets a return to peak fitness ahead of high-profile series against India next month and the Ashes later this year. Stokes tore his hamstring during the New Zealand tour last December for which he underwent a surgery. The setback pushed him to the sidelines for six months, and he will now make his competitive return later this week with a one-off Test against Zimbabwe. This is the second time since August last year that Stokes had to deal with the same injury. He first hurt his hamstring during The Hundred but got fit in time for the New Zealand tour. This time though he has changed his approach. “After my first major injury, I remember the shock of it, after the initial adrenaline had stopped, thinking, ‘How has this happened? We did have a bit of a drink four or five nights ago, could that have played a part? It wouldn’t have helped’,” he told Untapped podcast. “Then I was like ‘OK, I need to start changing what I do’. I don’t think I’ll ever be completely sober, but I’ve not had a drink since January 2. I said to myself ‘Not until I finish my injury rehab and get back on the field’.” he added. Stokes admitted he has had to put in lot of hard work to get back in top shape and despite the challenge, has no plans to stop anytime soon. “I think the day I wake up and can’t be bothered to do the training programme is getting towards that time you don’t really want it any more. But I haven’t got any interest in stopping. It’s just getting harder to do everything. Hence why now I feel like I have to work so much harder away from the field, in the gym and all that kind of stuff to just give me the best chance of being out there to perform. But I’ll keep going as long as I possibly can,” he said. Stokes also talked about how the drinking culture in cricket has undergone a sea change thanks to the demands of the modern game. “In the 90s and 00s there were unbelievable stories (about drinking). It’s definitely settled down a lot over the years. The game is more demanding on the body than it was. There’s so much more cricket, there’s so much more in the schedule that it’s just impossible for the body to be able to withstand all of that anyway without the downsides of what a couple of beers at the end of the day can do to you for the next day,” he said.