‘Stoke’ing up England’s Test fortunes the Ben way

Birmingham: During his incredibly successful captaincy reign, Virat Kohli often voiced his admiration for Ben Stokes. Calling him the “most competitive bloke he’s played against”, the Indian batting legend felt he was the “kind of cricketer every team would want.” England are lucky, not just to have him as a player, but as a captain too.

A once-in-a-generation player, the 34-year-old New Zealand-born all-rounder has completely transformed the England Test team with an exhilarating and fearless style of leadership, and the aura around him has now just grown to a divine level.

Stokes, who had already cemented his legacy as one of the country’s greatest players when he won them the maiden ODI World Cup with a Player of the Match performance in the final against New Zealand in 2019, took charge of the Test side in the summer of 2022. It was a time when England were at their lowest in red-ball cricket.

Unlike the white-ball side, which was flying high with a brand of ultra-aggressive cricket, the Test side was faltering. They’d won just once in 17 games and lost 11 during Joe Root’s final days as captain. They were jaded and disjointed, and Root had no option but to stand down and let some new energy flow. The ECB knew Stokes, who was serving as Root’s deputy, was the right man to rescue them from troubled times. And in three years, Stokes, along with coach Brendon McCullum, has turned England into one of the most exciting Test teams in the world.

As soon as Stokes took charge along with McCullum, the duo figured the best way to move forward was to turn the system completely upside down. It was pretty similar to what then captain Eoin Morgan did after England failed miserably at the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, where they exited in the group stage. Out went the archaic way of playing Tests and in came a more ultra-aggressive style focussed only on getting victories with no fear of failure.

The duo went about identifying players who would buy their ideology and execute it as envisioned. They gave them the licence to thrill without having to worry about the consequences, and the team has just responded in emphatic fashion with Stokes now winning 21 games in the 35 Tests he’s been in charge of — a win percentage of 61.76, which is the highest among those who’ve led England in more than 15 games.

Stokes has been right on the money on the field too. His field placements sometimes are beyond the conventional ones, where he often plays on the ego of the opposition batters. He’s a constant voice of encouragement for his bowlers, and whenever the chips are down, you can see him egging on his wards to give it their all.

Amidst all this, Stokes has ensured his personal performance too has been on par with the team’s mantra. With seasoned pacers James Anderson and Stuart Broad retired now, Stokes, despite his struggles with knee and hip injuries, is back to bowling almost full tilt for the sake of the team. And when Stokes has the ball in his hands, he’s got the unique skills to pick wickets whenever the team is desperate for it. He exactly knows what needs to be done to elicit a loose stroke, like he did in the first innings of the opening Test against India at Headingley.

That game was a microcosm of Stokes’ captaincy and his confidence. After winning the toss on a batting paradise, he had no hesitation in asking India to take first strike. Some felt it was too risky a gamble and it looked like Stokes had erred when India raked up 359/3 on the opening day. India, in fact, dominated a majority of the sessions. But Stokes never gave up. He ensured India never ran away with the game and when set a target of 371, he backed his batters to go for it with just a day left. And they did it, pulling off a record chase.