Ben Stokes, the captain of England, has gained notoriety for his remarkable performance against fast bowlers. The 32-year-old has, however, struggled against pace legend Jasprit Bumrah in the current series against India; in the same number of matches, Bumrah defeated him twice. Prior to their most recent match, Stokes had a constant advantage over Bumrah because the speedster from Ahmedabad had never defeated him in six meetings.
Recently, things have changed because Bumrah is now the world’s top-ranked Test bowler after taking 15 wickets in his first two Test matches against England. He would be putting in a lot of effort to maintain his current level of play and make India the first side to defeat Ben Stokes’s England in a series. Michael Atherton, a former cricket player, examined Ben Stokes’ circumstances and provided an explanation for his struggles with the Indian pacer.
Atherton thinks Ben Stokes struggled to ramp up his pace against Bumrah because he was rushed. He emphasized that Stokes is a superb player of pace and predicted a great return from the southpaw.
“I’ve noticed that although Stokes is a very good fast bowler, picking up the speed of the ball is difficult for him. He rushes along with Bumrah. He finds it difficult to ramp up the pace, and on a few occasions, when he does, it appears as though the ball has stayed low, which has both helped and hurt him in terms of velocity. That, in my opinion, is Bumrah’s problem, Atherton said on Sky Cricket.
The series is now tied at one game apiece. In order to avoid the “heat of the battle,” England traveled to Abu Dhabi after losing the second Test in Visakhapatnam. Although the squad won’t be practicing in the United Arab Emirates, head coach Brendon McCullum did clarify that they might hold a few fielding exercises and gym sessions to stay busy. They should arrive in Rajkot a few days before the third test, which is scheduled to start on February 15.
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