Apologizing in public, Ben Stokes, England’s captain, termed his expression of frustration during the third evening of the second Test against Pakistan in Multan as his mistake. The match started to slip from the hands of England due to a series of dropped catches and fielding mistakes.
Stokes, who resumed after nine weeks’ lay-off with a hamstring injury, reflected that he had “acted like a tired and grumpy old man” when he charged his men at a critical juncture in Pakistan’s second innings. It was in a promising spell of reverse swing by Brydon Carse, who had just given Mohammad Rizwan his third over-medium half-century in the series.
Though, two overs later, Carse again dropped some unfortunate chances, first by Jamie Smith and then by Joe Root, allowing Salman Agha to score 63 runs, which became crucial for Pakistan. Stokes vented out his frustrations after Jack Leach mishandled a catch, an outburst that contrasted with his approach of creating a blame-free environment.
“I apologized to the group last night,” Stokes said. “It’s the first time I’ve let my emotions show during my captaincy. I’m annoyed at myself for that. No one intends to drop catches, but it highlights their importance, especially in subcontinent conditions.”
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McCullum Backs Stokes
Brendon McCullum, England’s head coach, said he couldn’t believe Stokes had talked about those comments but explained that they epitomized a passionate game player. According to McCullum, Stokes’ will to fully recover from his injury was only a reflection of his character. “Without his passion, he wouldn’t have returned so quickly from a serious hamstring tear, said McCullum.”.
Stokes admitted he has not been that fit at this stage of a match in a long while, admitting that it is hard work to regain match fitness. “I worked hard to be fit for this Test, but nothing prepares you for playing in hot conditions,” he said.
Indeed, it was a match that turned out to be a real delight for spinners as Pakistan’s Sajid Khan and Noman Ali shared all 20 wickets. Stokes and McCullum have lauded Carse. The latter returned match figures of 5 for 79, and in the last innings of the game, he added 27 runs for England.
“Carse has shown why we selected him for all formats of the game,” Stokes said. McCullum echoed the sentiment, saying that he was the standout performer and one who could thump on to even on tricky pitches.
McCullum also came in defense of wicket-keeper Jamie Smith, who was criticized after a costly drop. “Keeping in these conditions is very tough,” he said. “We didn’t want to lose Smith despite the drop; he has been doing very well, and we are sure he would go back strong.”
