How good is Ben Stokes, and is there anything that he can’t do? Be it the Ashes, the World Cup or the IPL, Stokes has had maximum impact on most competitions he has played in it.
An extraordinary athlete, Stokes is always in the game. What you get from him is 100 percent commitment each time he steps out for his team. Blessed with incredible talent, Stokes has honed his skills over the years and is now in that zone where he can hardly put a foot wrong on a day he gets going. And more important is his clarity of thought. Soon after Jonny Bairstow was controversially dismissed, he stepped up and that’s when the match changed in favour of England. Australia and Pat Cummins, who held all the aces, were all of a sudden pushed on the defensive, and that’s what Stokes could do with an uncluttered mind. There were no catchers with Stokes taking on the bowlers, and the momentum changed completely with his counterpunching.
As he had once said to me, “There is always pressure of expectations and that’s good. If you are an important player in your team, only then will people expect you to win matches. That’s what a performer wants and aspires to. At the same time, I am not one who will tell myself at the start of the season that I have to score X hundred runs or pick x wickets. That’s not how things work. Often you can score less, but have maximum impact. It is not always about scoring many runs or picking up many wickets. The most important thing is for your team to win and that’s my only focus.”
England had almost won it at the Eden Gardens in 2016. Supporters had started to celebrate when Stokes conceded those four sixes to Carlos Brathwaite. A shell-shocked Stokes hunched low in the middle of the Eden Gardens pitch was a photograph that went viral. England were defeated by a resurgent West Indies, and Stokes was the fall guy. He has moved on since, and how. He won the 2019 World Cup for his team, won some incredible Test matches and continues to do extraordinary things just like what he did at Lord’s today when England were almost down and out.
As captain, there is almost nothing that he can’t do on the cricket pitch and that’s what makes the current England team what it is. Some of his shots at Lord’s left everyone gasping for breath. How is it possible? With such consistency? Under such pressure?
Against an Australian attack which had Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, Stokes was at full throttle. Shots all across the ground, it was the innings of the highest quality. And coming at Lord’s on a Sunday added to the charm of the effort. Taking on Hazlewood, who was bowling well, wasn’t easy and that’s what Stokes did in style. Fearless and confident of his ability, he set the chase up and made a match out of what seemed a no-contest.
With this incredible innings, Stokes has now seized the momentum from Australia. The counterattack was Bazball at its best. Even in defeat, Stokes made his point and has set up the Ashes. And despite being 0-2 down, it will be tough to punt against England in the weeks ahead.
As an Indian, I so wish we had a Ben Stokes in 2023. Badly.