Captaining a bowling attack that is thin on experience, Ben Stokes has shouldered responsibility right through the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy as he once again led from the front with the ball in the first innings at Manchester. The England captain’s five-wicket haul helped them restrict India to 358 as the hosts ended Day 2 at 225/2 to take control of the fourth Test.
Having undergone a knee surgery earlier in the year, coming into the series there were plenty of doubts with regards to Stokes bowling. In the lead-up to the Test series against India, Stokes played only the lone long form game against Zimbabwe as questions were raised as to whether the all-rounder was undercooked. And former England captain Nasser Hussain said Stokes has been on the money with the ball.
“Against India this summer, I cannot remember him bowling a bad spell. He has been England’s best bowler in the series. He now has 16 wickets, the most he has taken in a series in his career, and on Thursday he got his first five-wicket haul for eight years. That stat might have surprised some but Stokes has primarily been the fourth seamer in some pretty good attacks, with the likes of Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad and Mark Wood alongside him. If the ball is doing a bit, it is often the front three who get the wickets. If it is not, Stokes is often doing the hard donkey work. He’s the one in the enforcer role, banging it halfway down when it’s flat. Why do you think he has had so many injuries?” Hussain wrote in his column on Daily Mail.
After bowling his heart out at Lord’s, Stokes came up with another impressive outing here at Manchester taking the wickets of Shubman Gill, B Sai Sudharsan, Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar and Anshul Kamboj in the 24 overs he bowled. At Lord’s, where he was the Man of the Match, he bowled 44 overs to strangle India with the old ball.
“There were a few questions asked before this series about why he didn’t go off and play for the Lions because he hadn’t spent any time in middle. But this series has shown why he didn’t. When it comes to playing at this level, he will always put on a show. He doesn’t need more cricket. In this series, his spells have been getting longer and longer. I see that as someone who is very confident in his body,” Hussain wrote.
Hussain then went on to add the ultimate tribute, saying with his efforts in the Test series Stokes has put his name alongside past great all-rounders. “You judge a top all-rounder on whether he can get into the side as both a batter and a bowler. Even if his batting has slightly fallen away of late, Stokes is generally someone who can do that. On Thursday he joined Botham, Garfield Sobers and Jacques Kallis as the only players with 10 or more centuries and five or more five-wicket hauls in Tests. This series has only further proved that a fit Ben Stokes is one of the great all-rounders in the world,” Hussain wrote.
