In the first Test of the prestigious Ashes series, England hosted Australia at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham. After scoring 393 runs in the first innings, English skipper Ben Stokes shocked everyone with his bold decision to declare the innings. However, he continued to surprise fans and cricket pundits with his bowling changes and impactful bowling performance on Day 2.
Getting impressed with his cricketing mind, star India presenter Harsha Bhogle praised Stokes and compared him with veteran wicketkeeper-batter MS Dhoni. He took on Twitter and said,
“Over the many generations of players I have had the honour of watching, there have been players whose mind I would have loved to have a peep into. MS Dhoni in recent times and now, Ben Stokes. I am enthralled by how @benstokes38 is playing test cricket.”
Notably, after Joe Root’s century on Day 1, England declared their innings for 393/8 in the first innings. However, on the second day, hosts got some serious backing from conditions and they clinched three wickets in the first session. Star opener David Warner, Marnus Labuschange and Steve Smith failed to hold their nerves and got dismissed by Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes.
Marnus Labuschange registered golden duck
In his morning spell, Broad looked in great touch as he troubled Aussies. He once again trapped David Warner and dismissed his 15th time in Test cricket. Warner scored just 9 runs off 27 balls with the help of two boundaries. However, on the very next ball, Broad got an even bigger scalp as he dismissed Marnus Labuschange for a golden duck.
Labuschange failed to move with the foot while playing an outside off-ball. He poked the ball with hard hands and was caught well by Jonny Bairstow behind the wickets. After that, Usman Khawaja, along with Steve Smith, added 38 runs for the third wicket. Smith, in his innings, scored 16 runs off 59 balls before getting trapped by Ben Stokes in front of wickets.
Here is how fans react to Harsha Bhogle’s comments:
Ben Stokes is a true superstar, a true once-in-three-generations, genuine match-winner. And he does it every single time he turns up for the big matches. Unlike you know who…
— Rohit G Banawlikar (@RohitBanawlikar) June 17, 2023
Stokes is one of the most impactful of the players
— Amitabh Verma (@amitabh26) June 17, 2023
Benstokes recent interview about leadership – " If you don't want to do it for yourself , then don't ask someone else to do it as well". People will see through you.?
— SWAMI.BLOG (@swami_blog) June 17, 2023
Ben Stokes, continues to captivate with his unmatched brilliance. His ability to seize the moment, whether with the bat, ball, or in the field, sets him apart as a modern-day cricketing hero. #Ashes23
— Jitender Girdhar (@JGirdhar01) June 17, 2023
Best thing of @benstokes38 is his ability to surprise. Choice of bowler, unorthodox decision making. Opposition teams are finding it difficult to cope with that.
— Ajay Arora (@Ajayarora71) June 17, 2023
Stokes had beaten full powepacked Pakistan team during Corona time when main English Players had to Isolate themselves.
Stokes Won the series 3-0 with players who weren't part of their ODI/Test side.— Yash-Adda (@yashuiammish) June 17, 2023
you stick with ipl players when it comes to Indians but appreciating away players what so ever
ps- he said recent times
— messi_10??_rohit_45?? (@messirohitajith) June 17, 2023
His game is quintessential chess in the cricket field. You will not know the next move and before that it’s checkmate. While this series remains bazball’s final frontier if it succeeds or not – but this is test cricket at it’s best. England getting something of this road pitch..
— Ankur Begwani (@ankurbegwani06) June 17, 2023
Agreed . England has introduced an innovative approach to test cricket. There’s reason why test cricket is played over 5 days so Interesting to see the success rate of playing like this over a couple of years. Like do they have a plan B ?
— Girish Sane (@grsane) June 17, 2023
Great observation But I hope it’s not just because of current Aussie score of 78/3. Also I believe the decision to declare might not be entirely on the captain but also from inputs from the coaching staff and players – keeping the bigger picture (the series) in mind .
— Sanjeev (@sanjeevgupte14) June 17, 2023
He is the actual problem solver in the true sense, he knows everything about his attack and places fielders accordingly, he just gives his attack the required field. That's why he ain't get bothered much on the field. It's as simple as it sounds.
— rrcriconly (@rr0510criconly) June 17, 2023
