London. Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has compared Ben Stokes’ match-winning abilities with India legend MS Dhoni, regarded as the best finisher in the modern game, and believes the England skipper is better than his current contemporaries. I play well under pressure.
During the second Ashes Test against Australia at Lord’s, Stokes almost single-handedly took his team to victory with a brilliant century, which included a record-breaking nine sixes.
It was not the first time that Stokes had terrorized Australia, the flamboyant all-rounder had produced a similar performance during the 2019 Ashes series in England when he scored an unbeaten 135 to help England secure a remarkable one-wicket win over Australia Was.
Ponting said, “I think any international player is under pressure whenever he walks out to play, but Ben batting in the middle order or down the order has probably found himself winning more matches than some of the others.” finds in an opportune situation.”
“The first thing that comes to mind. It’s probably someone like Dhoni, who stays at the end in many T20 matches and finishes off the game, while Benn is at the end of Test matches,” Ponting said in the latest episode of The ICC Review. I do that. Many players in the history of the game have found themselves in that kind of role and end up winning matches, especially as a captain.
Ponting also revealed that Stokes’ match-winning innings at Headingley on the final day at Lord’s four years ago was still in his mind and was relieved when Australia finally made a breakthrough and bowled him out for 155.
“I thought and maybe everyone thought he could do it again because we’ve seen it happen before, but it was probably a bit more runs they were chasing (in 2019).”
“In everyone’s mind, I think once it started playing out the way it was and how many similarities there were at Headingley in 2019…Steve Smith dropped him…and Marcus Harris at Headingley Dropped him for 116, so, these kinds of things from the past keep coming back.”
While Stokes averages just above 36 with the bat at Test level and just over 32 with the ball, Ponting admits the star all-rounder has a remarkable ability to impact the game at a level that does justice to those modest figures. does not
“Over the years we’ve really judged cricketers by their numbers and their stats, what their average is and how many wickets they’ve taken. If you look at Ben Stokes only in that light, it’s a credit to him. Ponting said, “He is a player who averages 35 (36) with the bat and 32 with the ball.”
“So the numbers alone don’t put him in the top class of players. But when you see him playing the way he did (at Lord’s) and doing some of the things that he has done for this team over a long period of time, Then we have to find ways to better measure cricketers, how they impact games, how many games they can actually win because he’s an absolute match-winner, that’s for sure.
Stokes was a match-winner for England with a restrained half-century against Pakistan in the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup last year and Ponting is impressed with his ability to handle pressure and be able to adjust his game accordingly.
(IANS)
