Ben Stokes’ contribution to his team can never be summed up in mere numbers; his name will be mentioned with utmost respect in English cricket. Stokes’ brilliance was evident in the second of the three Test match series against West Indies. He hit his slowest century — 176 of 356 balls in the first innings — which was the need of the hour. He hit a vital half-century in the next innings as well, which is the fastest knock by any English opener.
Providing major breakthroughs on crucial times for his team, his bowling performance was equally impressive. Not to forget, he not only outperformed other players but also marked victory in a high-pressure game which was a prerequisite for the English team to maintain their chance of winning the tri-match series.
Stokes, surpassing Jason Holder, has become the number one all-rounder in the world, with an impressive margin of 38 points after his phenomenal performance against West Indies. The 29-year-old English cricketer ended Holder’s streak of 18 months at the top spot, the first from England since Andrew Flintoff in May 2006. His 497 points are also the highest by any Test all-rounder since Jacques Kallis’ 517 in April 2008.
Not only this, earlier this year, Stokes even ended Virat Kohli’s three-year reign of Wisden’s Leading Cricketer Of The Year when he was honoured with the title for his exceptional performance last year. He is also now the third-best Test batsman only behind Steve Smith and Virat Kohli in ICC Test ranking of batsmen.
Ben Stokes anchored the most phenomenal victory in recent times for England and has emerged as the man of the moment for his team with an all-round performance against the most competitive teams. Since 2019, he has been a leading run-scorer for his team with 1,355 runs in 16 Tests, averaging 52.11.
Indeed, he has evolved as one of the prolific players for England. His contribution to England’s run is most by any batsmen with 17.79 percent, ahead of Joe Root who scored 1,114 runs in as many Tests, with 14.86 percent of England’s run since 2019. Stokes has been equally efficacious with the ball — 36 wickets at 29.61, only behind Stuart Broad with 52 wickets.
Stokes’ greatness has many pieces of evidence and in the process, he is adding many feathers to his cap. He is in the elite club of players scored 4,000 plus Test runs and over 150 Test wickets and second fastest to mark his presence in the club, after the legendary Garfield Sobers. The club consists of giants like Jacques Kallis, Garry Sobers, Kapil Dev, Ian Botham and Daniel Vettori.
Stokes has been an intelligent cricketer in international cricket but he also proved his worth in one of the most high-profile club cricket — IPL. In 2017, he was included in the auction and bought by Rising Pune Supergiants, and soon with his much-needed knocks, which also include a century, grabbed everyone’s attention. He smashed 300 runs and with 10 wickets at crucial stages, he was considered one of the valuable players of the season. Since then he has an impressive IPL record and is still considered one of the most-watched players.
In the World Cup 2019 final, one of the most heartpounding and cliffhanging matches ever, Stokes, the man of moment, stepped up to lead his team to the maiden title and without disappointing anyone he halted New Zealand a run before the margin victory and took the match to first ever superover in the WC final. He again came to face the super-over with the bat and scored 8 of 3 balls and led England to defendable 15 runs. Though, Kiwis made it to the exact score and lost the title by boundary count-back rule. Thus, Stokes was awarded “Man of The Match” and listed his names amongst players who won the award in the WC final.
A dream does not become reality through magic, but with determination, hard work and sweat. Stokes has it all and he is clinching remarkable feats. His style of cricket and skill of decisive efforts has been a knack for England in recent times and the manner he is playing turned out to be an inspiration for youngsters all across the globe. Stoke is one guy taking the baton of game inventors with pride and honors. Pleasure watching Stokes!
