- Saturday, April 19, 2025
The ace all-rounder produced a gem of a delivery to get rid of the India captain who hit a century along with Shubman Gill to take his side to a commanding position.
By: Shubham Ghosh
HE hadn’t bowled in international cricket for some time and speculation was rife over the possibility of him bowling in the ongoing Test series against India. England captain Ben Stokes, who has been playing only as a batter despite being an effective all-rounder due to a knee injury, was found expressing an interest in bowling in the red-ball format which eventually he did and delivered it with a punch.
The 32-year-old right-hand medium pacer took the cherry himself to have a go at two set India batters in Rohit Sharma, his counterpart, and Shubman Gill, both of who were looking rock solid on the second day of the fifth Test in Dharamsala and had extended the lead to 57 in the first innings with nine wickets still intact.
Read: Dual tons from Rohit, Shubman add to England woes in fifth Test
Brendon McCullum hasdiya Rohit Sharma pe ????#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/DvBqhzbT1G
— Humerous (? ) doctor (@Gaurabeyyyyy) March 8, 2024
Stokes ran in to bowl to his opposite number and delivered something that was magical which bamboozled Sharma who was batting on 103. The brilliant delivery that rattled Sharma’s stumps left not only the batter in awe but also surprised Stokes’s own teammates. England coach Brendon McCullum was also pleasantly stunned and was seen slowly shaking his head and smiling with his mouth covered with a hand.
Read: India spinners wreak havoc as England bowled out for 218 in fifth Test
The ball landed on a perfect length and moved inwards as well as away from the batter off the pitch. Sharma was caught off guard and allowed the ball to go past the outside edge of his hanging bat and hit the off stump.
Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar, who was making commentary at the moment, called it a “magic ball”.
Stokes, however, was least animated and just did a routine celebration with his teammates with high fives.
The England captain’s wicket, his 198th in Tests, temporarily opened the floodgates as veteran seamer James Anderson castled Gill (110) in the very next over to take his tally in the long format to 699.
India were comfortably placed at 376 for 3 at tea on Day 2, taking their lead to 158 runs with Sarfaraz Khan batting on 56 and debutant Devdutt Padikkal on 44.
