Ben Stokes admitted that he is ‘looking forward to lying in bed for four days’ after inspiring England to a stunning 22-run victory over India at a packed Lord’s.
‘I’m pretty cooked,’ said Stokes, who bowled 44 overs across the Test match including two monumental spells on the final day and was named Player of the Match.
‘It was a big day with the game on the line. Bowling to win a Test match for your country on day five. If that doesn’t get you going and putting in for your team, I don’t know what will,’ the England captain added.
After a spell of 9.2 overs in the morning where he removed KL Rahul, Stokes bowled another 10 overs before tea where he broke the resistance of Jasprit Bumrah, who put on 35 for the ninth wicket with Ravindra Jadeja in a partnership that lasted 22 overs.
It was left for Shoaib Bashir to take the last wicket with his final act of the series as he got Mohammed Siraj to defend the ball into the ground and back on to his stumps to cue wild celebrations, with Jadeja stranded on 61 off 181 balls at the other end.
Bashir will miss the rest of the series after sustaining a fractured finger on Saturday and spent most of the final day off the field until he was required to bowl. England will name their squad for the fourth Test at Old Trafford in the coming days.
‘For him (Bashir) to finish that game off was written in the stars. Every time I looked round to the bench, I just saw Bash’s little head peeking through, ready to go,’ said Stokes, who praised the character of the 21-year-old.
England captain Ben Stokes was the Player of the Match in the second Test win over India
Stokes bowled 44 overs at Lord’s and took five wickets, including that of KL Rahul on day five
After the second Test, Stokes said that he was ‘looking forward to lying in bed for four days’
‘It’s not good news and it’s very disappointing. It’s a big shame but he showed courage to go out there and bat at the end for us (in the second innings). And the willingness to sit on the bench and wait for his moment to come and bowl just proves how much it means to everyone who gets the opportunity to put the shirt on that not even a couple of breaks will stop you. What an amazing feeling for him,’ Stokes added.
And six years to the day when England won the World Cup at Lord’s, Stokes admitted that he summoned the spirit of 2019 when he opened the bowling alongside Jofra Archer in the morning. Archer got rid of Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar to put England in the driving seat in his first Test since 2021.
‘We knew that (it was exactly six years) turning up in the morning and that was genuinely the reason why we went with me and Jof,’ Stokes revealed. ‘It felt right in my tummy that Jof was going to do something to break the game open.’
The India captain Shubman Gill said he was ‘extremely proud’ of his side but refused to reveal whether Jasprit Bumrah would play a part in Manchester, with the series on the line. Bumrah said before the series that he would only be fit to play three Tests and the fast bowler has already played two – both of which India have lost.
