We Wont Take Any Backward Step...: Ben Stokes Warns India Ahead Of 4th Test, Says THIS On Slow Over-Rate Penalties
'It's a massive series and heat will be shown. Have England been nice? Potentially. We won't purposely start anything, but we won't take any backward step,' Stokes said in a pre-match press conference.
The series has already seen plenty of intensity with England leading 2-1, and Stokes admitted the side enjoyed a much-needed break after their win at Lord's. 'I was in my bed for two days… felt like I was in a long-distance relationship with my family,' he joked. 'It was a good win and a nice break. We'll look to put the same energy next week.'
England have made one change for the Manchester Test, with left-arm spinner Liam Dawson replacing the injured Shoaib Bashir. Stokes praised Dawson's return, highlighting his domestic performances.
'Dawson has been performing really well. He got recalled into the team, and I'm sure there will be nerves, but he's experienced enough to handle it.'
Stokes also welcomed back Chris Woakes, who returns after a break. 'We had a big break, a good opportunity to freshen up. Woakes has a good record here.'
The England captain didn't shy away from addressing the controversy around slow over-rate penalties. England were docked two WTC points and fined 10% of their match fee following the Lord's Test win, prompting Stokes to call for change.
'Over rate isn't something that I worry about, but that's not saying that I purposely slow things down. I do understand the frustration around it, but I honestly think there needs to be a real hard look at how it's structured. You can't have the same rules in Asia, where spin is bowling 70 per cent of the overs, to have the same laws in New Zealand, Australia, England, where it's going to be 70-80 percent seam bowling,' he explained.
'Because a spinner's over takes less time than a seamer's over. So common sense would think that you should look at maybe changing how the over rates are timed in different continents.'
Stokes defended England's over-rate in the Lord's Test by pointing to Bashir's injury and the heavy workload on the fast bowlers.
'I can understand it from an external point of view around the overs, I really do. But it's a very tough thing to do when I feel there's more to it than just getting rounds, getting told I'll just quicken up, get three overs. There's a lot that actually goes on the field. You've got fast bowlers bending their backs consistently. So throughout the course of a game, the time of overs is going to come down because you've just got tired bodies.'
'We played for five days, that was our 15th day of cricket. We obviously had an injury to Shoaib Bashir, a spinner. So we couldn't turn to our spinner as much as we would have liked to on day five. So we had to throw a seam at them for pretty much the whole day. So that's obviously going to slow things down. And there are periods in the game where you do try and just slow everything down, more tactically if anything like that.'
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The Hindu
7 hours ago
- The Hindu
Stokes — raw, real and relentless
The universe sometimes conspires — almost magically — to bless a few individuals with the power not only to write their scripts, but to live them out on the grandest stages of life. Act I: T20 World Cup final, Eden Gardens, Kolkata, 2016 The tension was palpable. West Indies needed 19 runs off the final over. It was advantage England, as things stood. Marlon Samuels — calm, ice-cool and unbeaten on 85 — was stranded at the non-striker's end. The moment was ripe — not for Samuels, not for West Indies — but for a young 24-year-old Englishman full of fire and fight. Ben Stokes had the ball. History was in the making. But in his, and England's, way stood a player and a performance immortalised by Ian Bishop's iconic scream: 'Carrrrrlos Brathwaite! Carrrrrlos Brathwaite — remember the name!' Four sixes on the trot, each sailing into the night sky and then swallowed by the crowd, stunned Stokes and his teammates into shock. Brathwaite had pulled off the unthinkable and handed the Windies a cherished world title. Stokes crumbled; his face sank into the palm of his hands. He dropped to the floor, hollowed out by heartbreak. As one name and performance entered the annals of history, another – Stokes – was buried under the weight of an opportunity gone tragically wrong. A man, who could have been a national hero, was made the villain. 'I said to myself, 'I've lost the World Cup.' I couldn't believe it. I didn't know what to do. It took me so long to get back on my feet. I didn't want to get back up. It was like the whole world had come down on me,' Stokes, always one to candidly dissect emotions, would later admit. 'There weren't any good things going through my mind. It was just complete devastation. After the first six, I thought, 'Oh God,' but I was backing myself. I had been in that type of situation for four weeks in all my training, so it was not a case of holding anything back and thinking, 'I hope I get this one in' because I knew I could do it.' But destiny is often cruel. 'I haven't watched it back yet because I don't want to bring myself to do that at this stage,' he said later. 'I don't know how much I missed it, but as a bowler, you have a feeling as soon as you let go whether or not you've got the yorker right — and it felt like I had. 'Some days they go well. Some days they don't. That was a horrible day, but I won't be shying away from it. You almost want it to happen… because if you nail it, everyone forgets the final.' But no one forgot. Not then. Not even now. After the gutting group-stage exit in the 2015 ODI World Cup, the T20 final loss was akin to rubbing salt on one's raw wounds. It was rock bottom, sure, but as it turns out, it was not the end. Act II: Rock Bottom to Rock Star 'You've got to lose to know how to win…' — Aerosmith famously crooned in their 1973 classic 'Dream On'. Stokes held that loss at the Eden close to his heart. The itch of that adamant scar dragged him back to the drawing board. Only this time, it wasn't just blind hard work; he trained smarter. It dawned on him that technique wasn't the only area of work: far more important were temperament and mindset. Stokes needed to find a way to give direction to the fire that burned within. He needed to find purpose. And where better to find that than at home! His father, Gerard, was a tough, no-nonsense rugby player-turned-coach. His mother, Deborah, who introduced him to cricket as a young boy, worked as a counsellor for victims of violent crime. Growing up, young Benjamin excelled at both sports. 'In a room full of people, you'd spot a Stokes straight away,' the all-rounder once said. 'The sense of humour is the same. We take the mickey out of each other constantly. My brother's a grouch around people — he just grunts. That competitiveness, the frustration, the inside build-up of anger — that's from my old man. I've definitely got that in me,' the Christchurch-born English all-rounder said. Gerard wasn't one for excuses. For years, he told his son he'd lost a finger to a crocodile. The truth, when it came out, was equally striking: 'He kept dislocating the same finger,' Stokes recalled. 'The doctor said he needed surgery. But Dad couldn't afford to miss games — he had bills to pay. So he just got it cut off.' That missing finger would eventually be his son's iconic celebration. But it was in that kind of environment — relentless, raw, real — that Ben Stokes was shaped. 'If I didn't do well, I'd beat myself up,' he remembered. 'Especially when I was younger. I'd just get angry. I'm not someone who hates people for beating me. But I. Just. Don't. Like. Losing'. But somewhere along the way, something shifted. From pain came a hard-earned truth: stop chasing moments…become them. While others shrank in the wake of chaos, Stokes always found himself drawn to it. Take the 2019 ODI World Cup, for example. Once again, a final – this time at Lord's – and a final over, except this time he was the one batting. Fifteen runs were needed for a famous win against New Zealand. History stared him down once more, but this time, Stokes didn't blink. Stokes would drop to his knees once more, but this time after willing his team across the finish line, in a Super Over no less. He took the weight of a nation and turned it into poetry. Act III: Immortality in Leeds If Lord's was redemption, Headingley was a step above. With the Ashes slipping away, England — chasing 359 — collapsed to 286 for nine. With 73 runs still needed and just one wicket in hand against an Australian attack baying for blood, it seemed foolish to hope. Alone but determined, Stokes motored on. He reverse-swept Nathan Lyon into the stands and switch-hit Pat Cummins for maximums. He smashed boundaries, all with tailender Jack Leach as his shadow. For all his heroics, Stokes was but human. When he trudged unwillingly to the non-striker's end, he was rendered unable to watch Leach's desperate attempts to survive. The pair kept the game alive. Stokes was handed the relief of a missed run out and an erroneous not out decision on an LBW appeal (Australia couldn't turn to DRS, having exhausted its reviews). Two runs were needed for a largely unlikely English win when Cummins resumed with the ball. Leach blocked before running a single and bringing Stokes back on strike. He wasted no time, creaming a length delivery through covers to seal a miraculous win. Arms spread wide, Stokes – who finished with an unbeaten 135 – roared. Headingley erupted in unison. The famous Western Terrace stands went into a frenzy. 'It was beyond greatness,' said former England captain Nasser Hussain. 'It was something else. Something beyond cricket.' 359 was chased, the Ashes remained alive, and the game got a masterclass on the power of belief. Final act: Leading from the front In 2022, when Stokes was handed the reins of the England Test team, the side was adrift. One win in 17 outings didn't inspire any confidence. Spirits were low. The team's brand of cricket was unclear. England had lost its soul. Early on in his partnership with coach Brendon McCullum, it was evident the duo were cut from the same cloth: bold, unafraid, instinctive. Together, they didn't just rebuild a team; they redefined it. They exorcised passivity from England's character. No more playing for the draw. No more waiting for the game to come to them. Stokes and McCullum lit a fire and gave it a new name: Bazball. Its evangelists were keen to underline that this style of cricket was not about reckless bravado, but about freedom. 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That triumph gave England 2-1 lead in the series, reaffirming Stokes' own status as the pulse of the red-ball setup. Bazball is an easy concept to bash because of its volatility. But its champions remain unfazed. What Stokes and McCullum have built is more than a team. It's a culture. They've made Test cricket thrilling again. Not because they win every time, but because they aren't afraid to lose. And that, oddly, is what makes them win more. Stokes' redemption is more about persistence than perfection. His ascendancy was anything but smooth — in fact, the first chapter of his career had more infamy than glory. The 2016 T20 World Cup final cast a long, painful shadow. The 2017 nightclub brawl in Bristol led to an arrest, a trial, and a suspension. He lost the England vice-captaincy and missed the 2017-18 Ashes. It takes something special to resist spiralling and emerge transformed in spirit. 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India Today
7 hours ago
- India Today
English pundits pray for blockbuster Rishabh Pant's return in Manchester Test
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Indian Express
7 hours ago
- Indian Express
Day 1, Old Trafford: How Rishabh Pant's toe injury gave England a leg in the door
As Rishabh Pant sat on the golf-cart turned ambulance with a swollen right foot, a question loomed over Old Trafford, along with the dark clouds. How will India tread through the final hour of play on Day 1? The score at that point was 213/3, the honours were even. But with the most consistent Indian batsman on the tour gone, England captain Ben Stokes saw this as an opportunity to get his leg in the door. He did very soon. Six overs later the last of India's specialist, Sai Sudharsan pulled a short ball from Stokes into the hands of fine-leg. The cat and mouse contest for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy continues. India had a foot ahead till Pant was hit flush on his right toe by England's hero of the day Chris Woakes. At stumps, India would finish at 264/4. On crease were the two all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur. Both were on 19, both looking comfortable against the tired England attack. This was a hard day's work for both the batsmen and bowlers. Once again the most-repeated 'end of the day' summation on this series—the first hour tomorrow would be crucial—echoed around the storied ground. This game too has the opening of a gripping drama. The pitch is no sleeping beauty, this is no batting paradise, the spinners are getting turn, pacers the bounce. The 'Theatre of Dreams', the home of footballers that has the same name, is round the corner. But cricket's Old Trafford too might throw up a game of gravitas. On the very first day, a fairytale almost unfolded. Sudharsan getting into the playing XI here wasn't a popular decision. Experts have believed that he shouldn't have replaced Karun Nair, who should have been given one more game. But those in the know say that it was captain Shubman Gill who backed Sudharsan. No one has seen India's new No.3 as closely as Shubman. They are opening partners at Gujarat Titans. The two have spent long hours on the field and months together during the IPL. Familiarity doesn't always breed contempt, it also can generate awe. Once during the IPL, Shubman had spoken about Sudharsan's special talent. 'It's easy to swing freely on good cement wickets, but real skill lies in reading conditions, assessing the situation.' The coaches at GT also talk about the potential of the star batsman who plays even IPL like Tests. Assistant coach Nadeem Amin, talking to this paper about Shubman, had diverted the topic towards the other GT opener. That was during the Lord's Test. 'He may be out now but look out for the boy, his appetite for runs is as much as Shubman. Just wait till he gets a game.' So when he got the game, the initiation was relatively easy. Openers KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal had put on 94 runs and the English pace bowlers had lost the first hour to India. Sudharsan too looked like he was going to make this opportunity count. In the first innings of the only Test he had played in England at Headingley, Sudharsan got out edging an angled ball on the leg-stump to the wicket-keeper. Stokes doesn't usually forget such weak spots in his rivals. So he immediately went round-the-wicket to the left-hander and bowl from the corner of the crease. The ploy almost worked, Sudharsan edged a ball but the wicket-keeper Jamie Smith failed to grab it. This was the lucky break the batsman returning to the team wanted. A big part of Sudharsan's batting is his wrists. There is a tiny bit of Virat Kohli in his drives. He rolls his wrists over the ball, like a competent table-tennis player hitting a top-spinner. He is also quick to jump on balls that are marginally short as he crouches and slaps them to square leg. This too isn't a straight tight slap but more of a subtle pat, again with the help of his wrists. Sudharsan's county stint also prepared him to negotiate the English conditions, the kind India encountered for the first time on this tour. In the few games he played for Surrey, the left-hander learned to relax and give importance to the technical aspects of the game. 'As a batsman, when you are juggling between formats, I believe only the mindset should change, not your game … There is a big shift tactically. When I go to England, I have to leave a lot more balls than I usually do,' he had told The Indian Express. It is the wrists that manipulate the ball into the gaps, making it difficult for the captain to set a field. When he was in the company of Pant, another batsman with a knack of hitting the ball in unguarded areas, it seemed England were in trouble. The two were toying with the bowlers, India seemed set for a long partnership. England were losing the grip and then came the twist. Pant got carried away and to a smartly bowled slow yorker, he attempted a predetermined reverse sweep. He was beaten by the pace and trajectory. He missed the ball and it hit him on the toe. There were worried faces in the Indian dressing room as the pain on Pant's face hinted at the seriousness of the injury. By late evening the word from the Indian camp was that Pant had gone for scans and the BCCI medical team was 'monitoring his progress'. India's key player's left finger hadn't yet fully healed and now he gets a blow on his right foot. A bigger question looms: How will India limp on the last leg of this tough tour if Pant is ruled out of the series?
