The talismanic 32-year-old, the architect of England's maiden 50-overs World Cup triumph in 2019, announced his shock ODI retirement last year citing his heavy workload.
As speculation that he might return to the format for England's title defence swirled during the Ashes in June and July, Stokes quashed talk of a possible return to the ODI squad, citing a nagging knee injury.
However, he returned to the England set-up last month ahead of their World Cup title defence in India, and gave another example of his explosive batting in the third ODI against New Zealand on Wednesday, smashing 182 off 124 balls.
"I knew that I'd be playing in these games and potentially in the World Cup then when I said that, but it was just the easiest thing to say that and put you (the media) off the radar."
"This is the first time that I've been clear in my mind that that's the one thing I can focus on," Stokes said.
Persons:
Ben Stokes, Andrew Couldridge, Stokes, I've, I'd, Amlan Chakraborty, Peter Rutherford
Organizations:
New Zealand, Lord's, Thomson
Locations:
England, New, London, Britain, India, New Delhi