England captain Ben Stokes showed brilliant strength and fight on the final day of the Lord’s Test. He bowled long spells of 9.2 and 10 overs. His determination helped England beat India by 22 runs, giving the hosts a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
Stokes not only delivered crucial overs but also pulled off a vital run-out of Rishabh Pant. His energy and never-give-up attitude impressed many—including former India cricketer Irfan Pathan.
“Ben Stokes bowled a marathon 9.2-over spell in the morning on day five. What a player he is. He bowls, bats and executes a crucial run out of Rishabh Pant but there is no talk of workload management. But with India it is not like that. Bumrah bowls five overs and waits for Joe Root to come out to bat when you need to control the game (in the second innings). It was disappointing,” Pathan said on his YouTube channel.
He added, “His workload was managed having not played at Edgbaston. When you play a match, there is no workload. You have to win at all costs. The Indian camp could have done that better.”
Pathan also praised Jofra Archer, who was playing red-ball cricket after four years.
“Archer was playing a Test match after four years but he did not stop. He bowled a six-over spell in the morning before returning to bowl again. Ben Stokes did not think about workload at all, if he can bowl nine overs, hum toh peeche rah gaye (Indian pacers were left behind),” he said.
Stokes himself admitted how exhausting the day was: “You bowl 45 overs in a Test match and win… probably the best comparison I could do… I’m pretty cooked.”
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