Image Credit- AFP
Ben Stokes was
already striding back to his mark to bowl his second delivery in 251 days when
his teammates arrived to congratulate him.
After 15 innings without giving up an arm, Stokes had just started his first
competitive over since July at Lord’s against Australia. After undergoing knee
surgery during the 50-over World Cup at the end of November, he has gradually
recovered in India, showing signs of improvement starting with the second Test
and ultimately striking gold in this series’ fifth and final game. Using his
opening ball, he took out the captain of India to commemorate the event.
Well, it was classic
Stokes. Into the crease with full force, the seam angled towards the gully as
soon as it left his right hand, striking the ground, leaving Rohit, who had
scored 103, playing off-stump and ending a stand of 171, 110 of which had come in
the first session. Brendon McCullum was seen by the cameras shaking his head
and shielding his eyes while on the sidelines. A man who dedicated his
professional life to motivating others through extraordinary achievements was
taken aback by what his captain had just revealed.
Stokes’s lack of
celebration should have warned viewers about the state of the match. India had
started the day 76 behind, but now they were 275 for 2, up by 57. India were
crushing all English hopes, even though he had broken his pinky vow to England
physio Ben Davies not to even think about bowling in a match this tour. They
currently lead by 255 runs after the first inning.
The positive energy around Rohit’s removal reached a new height seven
deliveries later as Anderson dismissed Gill for 110 to take his career total of
699 wickets without adding any more runs to the score. With Sarfaraz Khan and
Devdutt Padikkal fresh to the field, England had a chance to win. At that
point, Stokes introduced an altogether different vibe.
In his final
five-over spell, he did not take any more wickets, but he did force a couple of
errors from Sarfaraz, which kept the duo in check. In the first, the batter had
just two runs when Stokes made a challenging return catch, even though he had
crossed the front line. On 7, an identical delivery to the one that had taken
out Rohit turned Sarfaraz inside out; except this time, it was wide enough to
leave the stumps unscathed after it had beaten the outside edge. Throughout the
trip, England has been leading at different moments in the field, but this
seemed different.
The debutant’s
first, and favourite, boundary was an edge drawn from Paddikal, which caused
Stokes to look at him in blood crimson. Following his second boundary through
the covers in Stokes’ subsequent over, the left-hander kept up the strike with
a dab to third, and Stokes accompanied him all the way to the non-striker’s
end. Sarfaraz attempted to disregard Stokes’s persistent demands for an answer,
and it could have been because of this lack of willingness to participate that
a typically potent batsman was at one time only managing nine runs from thirty
balls.
However, Sarfaraz came out of his shell and blazed to a half-century, while
Paddikal also scored fifty in a fourth-wicket stand of 97. India had a
158-run advantage when they were dismissed, before the tail added 97 more.
Their charge, devastating as it was, beginning when Stokes’ had brought his
spell to an end.
He works as a
delegator, yet his true nature is that of a warrior. However, as Joe Root and
Alastair Cook can confirm, the only chance to match someone else’s performance
is when he bats, where the weight of captaincy is greatest.
Stokes will be back by summer, fully recovered from his knee surgery, and in
peak physical condition. It is encouraging for the next two years building up
to the next Ashes series. However, it is difficult to ignore the thoughts of
what could have been during the past two months as England misses out on
another significant series.