England captain Ben Stokes has been in incredible form in this Anderson-Tendulkar trophy with the ball and has already bowled the most overs of his career in a single series, breaking his previous record.
On day one of the fourth Test, Stokes finished with figures of 2/47 in 14 overs, getting valuable wickets of skipper Shubman Gill for just 12 and a well-set Sai Sudharsan for 61 runs. Stokes started the day with a five-over spell, then followed it with a four-over spell and concluded the day with another five overs worth of deliveries.
Even though a big knock with the bat continues to elude him, with just 163 runs in six innings at an average of 27.16 and best score of 44, Stokes has been England’s miracle man with the ball, topping the wicket charts with 13 scalps at an average of 28.53 in seven innings, with best figures of 4/66. So far, he has bowled 119.0 overs, the most he has done in a Test series, surpassing his workload of 116.5 overs against Australia during the 2013-14 Ashes series (in eight innings, away from home) and 116.2 overs (in eight innings) against India in the 2018 series at home.
Raw statistics do not do justice to the impact Stokes creates. His wicket column might not be the best, but he has been the one putting in hard yards despite his recent fitness setbacks, which effectively reduced his hamstring and knees to absolutely nothing at one point. With high-profile wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Gill, Karun Nair, KL Rahul, and Sai Sudharsan being amongst his victims, he has essentially hunted the top order well and made an impact.
One of his most remarkable outings was during the final day of the third Lord’s Test, when he bowled almost 10 overs on the trot, getting the big wicket of KL Rahul. Bowling in tandem with Jofra Archer, they reduced India to 82/7 during a 193-run chase. Later, when Ravindra Jadeja was putting up a fight with tailender Jasprit Bumrah, Stokes brought back England into the game, ending a resilient 35-run stand which saw Bumrah soak up 54 deliveries and give Jadeja some freedom to play. At Lord’s, he bowled a total of 44 overs and took five wickets. Along with his knocks of 44 and 33 and a stunning Rishabh Pant run-out, he earned the ‘Player of the Match’ award.
The brilliance Stokes shows in the match is motivating for his teammates and also shows his fitness and passion towards test cricket. As the series continues, it will be interesting to see how many overs he ends with in the series. A fully fit Stokes, contributing decent numbers with the bat and bowling relentlessly, is a good sign for England as they gear up for an Ashes series against Australia this November away from home.