England all-rounder Ben Stokes is considered among the best players in the world today. His heroics in the world cup final and Ashes were two of the finest innings of recent times. Stokes is now all set to lead England in the first Test match against West Indies in the absence of Joe Root. England’s regular skipper Root will miss the first Test to be with his pregnant wife.
Joe Root recently stated that Ben Stokes will be at his best as a skipper of the side. He compared him to the Indian captain and pointed out that like Virat Kohli, the responsibility of captaincy will bring out the best in Stokes. Both Stokes and Kohli are very competitive on the field who perform exceptionally under pressure. The 2019 ICC cricketer of the year Stokes has been on sensational form in all three formats.
Ben Stokes will perform like Virat Kohli – Joe Root
“You know Virat Kohli goes out there and performs and expects everyone to go and do the same within the same team and I imagine that’s how Ben Stokes will go about his business,” Joe Root said in a chat show on Sony Ten’s ‘Pit Stop’.
A few days ago when asked about captaincy Stokes had commented he is the Scottie Pippen to Joe Root’s Micheal Jordan. Root although considers Stokes to be more of a Micheal Jordan as he always leads from the front. He lauded Stokes and said the rest of the England players immensely respect him. He’s always been a big leader in the squad being the vice-captain.
He added, “I think Ben is better and would make a better ‘Michael Jordan’ than me. Stokes has a great quality, leads from the front, just as Michael Jordan did you know. He’s already a big leader in the team as the vice-captain”.
“There’s a huge amount of respect for him. He has obviously accomplished so much within the game and within Test cricket that he’s more than well enough equipped to do a really good job”, said Root.
The three-match Test series will be the first after the COVID-19 pandemic break. First Test will begin on July 8 and will be played at Southampton. The West Indies team has already reached England whereas the hosts are also all set to resume their training for the much-anticipated series.