All of England will overflow with praise for Ben Stokes, who’s set for his landmark 100th Test when India and England clash here at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium from Friday.
For many, the influence of Stokes, especially since the inception of Bazball, is
already as big as that of the legendary all-rounder and former English captain Ian Botham.
No doubt, Stokes’ leadership at times has certainly been exemplary and, lately, unable to bowl because of his left knee injury, he has been trying his best to compensate with the bat and some alert, acrobatic fielding.
But what about Stokes’ performance against India in Indian conditions? His lone hundred (128) in the longest format so far on Indian soil had come at this very ground itself back in November 2016, which was also his maiden Test appearance in India.
When compared to Botham’s 554 runs from just seven Tests in India with two hundreds at an average of 61.55 along with 30 wickets, Stokes’ numbers — 682 runs from 11 Tests, averaging 32.47 and just 13 wickets — do appear bleak.
“No way can you compare Stokes with Botham. The latter was far more devastating with both bat and ball,” former India all-rounder and ex-coach Madan Lal, who has played against Botham, emphasised.
“Botham’s swing used to be vicious. Not to say Stokes hasn’t done well with his seam bowling, but Botham’s bowling was of a different level. Besides, Stokes hasn’t been bowling of late because of his knee problems, so let’s see how he does once he resumes (bowling),” Lal stated.
To be fair to Stokes, he has had his share of success with the ball too and England are missing his bowling skills. He although bowled for some time at training on Tuesday.
“Stokesy is someone who loves to contribute in whichever way possible. He’s definitely missing bowling and he’s also annoyed for not being able to bowl,” Scott Borthwick, Stokes’ teammate at Durham and also captain of the county, told The Telegraph on Tuesday.
Given his talent and stroke-making prowess, an average below 33 in India does reflect a lack of application from Stokes. “But in the current series, he has scored some crucial runs in his trademark style, batting with the lower order. In fact, he has proved that batting with the lower order brings out his best,” batsman all-rounder Borthwick, who represented England in one Test, a T20I and a couple of ODIs, pointed out.
Stokes did show glimpses of his ability with the bat, hitting an 88-ball 70 and a 54-ball 47 in the first innings in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam, respectively.
As for his leadership skills, this is what former England all-rounder Phillip Defreitas has to say: “Leading comes naturally to Stokesy and that’s how he has evolved as a player. From being a class all-rounder to being a leader and the man for all his teammates.
“He has got that ability to spot something striking in a youngster even if the latter doesn’t have much of first-class experience. That’s Stokesy’s USP and tells a lot about his impact.”