Ben Stokes was hobbling around, clutching his leg on a hot Thursday afternoon at Lord's. The signs were ominous for the English supporter, as Stokes had only returned from knee surgery just before the India series.
It made sense, perhaps, that he was in some discomfort. The England captain had already bowled 61 overs in the first two Tests of the series. Injury-prone in the recent past owing to a bung knee, Stokes could have opted to save himself from the bowling efforts in both innings at Lord's. But then again, if he did that, he wouldn't be Ben Stokes, would he?
England cricket's miracle man, the hero of age-defying moments, took it upon himself to bowl a staggering 44 overs, his heaviest bowling workload in a single Test in nearly six years. The player of the match effort carried England over the line at Lord’s, by a narrow margin of 22 runs.
Forty-four overs. Let that sink in. This was the third-highest bowling workload of his entire Test career. With that, Stokes has now delivered 105 overs in the series, with two more games still to play.
Former England batter Jonathan Trott was left in awe. And who wouldn’t be?
"It just shows he's the heart and soul of the side. He leads from the front, and that’s exactly what you want from a captain. He’s never going to ask someone to do something he wouldn’t be willing to do himself," Trott said after the match. Read More
This article is referenced from
https://www.indiatoday.in/
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