England captain Ben Stokes is hopeful to play the final Test at the Oval after he told his players that pain is just an emotion. England toiled for 143 overs in India’s second innings in Manchester and managed to get 4 wickets in those overs. Ben Stokes also hinted that England may need to freshen up their bowling attack for the final Test match at the Oval.
Ben Stokes bowled 11 overs on Sunday which included a spell of 8 overs in a row but he grimaced throughout and repeatedly clutched his right shoulder. He also revealed after the team shook hands for a draw that he had a sore biceps tendon. He said he had been better physically but considered it very unlikely that he would not be fit for the fifth Test at the Oval.
Ben Stokes gives his thoughts on his workload
After taking his first five-wicket haul in 8 years in India’s first innings, Stokes retired hurt while batting on Friday but re-emerged that evening and went on to score his first Test hundred in two years the following day. He did not bowl at all on Saturday i.e. Day 4 of the Test match, but after his spells on Sunday has bowled 140 overs in this series, a personal record.
Speaking to reporters, Stokes said, ” It’s been a pretty big workload so far in this series. I had a big week last week at Lord’s, with time spent out in the middle with bat in hand and obviously overs bowled, and then same again this week. I said it a few times to the guys out there: ‘pain is just an emotion.’ It’s just one of those things.
“It is actually my bicep tendon. It obviously had quite a lot of workload through it, just been creeping around. But yeah, I spent a lot of time out in the middle doing my job as an all-rounder this week and it just got a little flared up. It didn’t get any worse throughout the day, just stayed the same, so that’s why I kept on going,” he added.
Ben Stokes hopes to play final Test & hints at fresh legs in the pace departmentÂ
England do not play another Test after this series until the Ashes in November, and Stokes has not played a white-ball international for nearly two years. He therefore expects to play at the Oval. He said, “Hopefully, it settles down and we’ll be good as gold for the last game. I don’t want to eat my words, but the likelihood that I won’t play is very unlikely.”
However, Stokes implied that England would need fresh legs and minds for the fifth Test after nearly 900 overs in the field across the first 4 Test matches. Brydon Carse and Chris Woakes have played all four Tests, while Jofra Archer has played two in a row after a four-year absence from Test cricket. Gus Atkinson, Sam Cook, Jamie Overton, and Joshua Tongue are the other available options to replace the weary pacers.
“If you look at how long we’ve been out in the field and the overs that we bowled as a bowling unit, everyone is going to be pretty sore and pretty tired going into the last game of the series. There’ll be an assessment of everyone, and hopefully we can use these next two or three days’ rest period wisely and then have to make a decision,” said Ben Stokes.
He further added, “These recovery days are going to be pretty important and we might have to make a few decisions to get some fresh legs in. But that won’t be decided until we get closer to the last game. We generally like to get our team out a couple of days before but we might have to just take a little bit longer going into this last game, because we want to give everyone as long as we possibly can to be able to recover,”
Ben Stokes opines on his performance at Old Trafford
Ben Stokes was named the Player of the Match for the second Test in a row after his all-round efforts at Lord’s. Stokes now has won 12 Player of the Match awards in his Test career which is the joint-second-most with Ian Botham for England. He is only behind Joe Root who has 13 Player of the Match Awards. But Stokes spoke to BBC Test Match Special and felt it meant very little to him after the game petered out for a draw.
“When you put in good performances for the team, your enjoyment of those is dictated by how you feel at the end of the Test match with the result. I would obviously give the bottle of champagne and the medal back in a heartbeat if we ended up being on the right side of the result that we wanted,” said Ben Stokes.
Ben Stokes defends the Old Trafford pitch.Â
Ben Stokes also refused to criticise the Old Trafford pitch. Only 24 wickets fell across five days including only two wickets in the final five sessions as India showed character and went a lot of sessions wicketless with bat in hand.
Speaking further on this, Stokes said: “I think ‘unacceptable’ is probably a bit too much. It was a lot easier for the left-handers throughout this Test match. It certainly seemed a little more dead bowling to left-handers than it did to right-handers,”
Stokes was the best performer for England and troubled India even with the injuries he had and England would be hoping that their captain would give one last push for them to clinch the series at the Oval. Ben Stokes would like to bowl and inspire his team like he has done in the last 2 Test matches.
What Lies Ahead
The stage is set for the fifth and final Test at the Oval on 31st July, 2025 onwards. England lead the series 2-1 and cannot lose the series. India have shown great grit and determination to save the Old Trafford Test and keep the series alive. They have to win at the Oval to level the series 2-2.
Will England land the knockout punch and seal the series at the Oval with a win and 3-1 margin or will India fight back and take forward renewed confidence from this Test and level it up at 2-2. We shall wait and find out as the battle lines are set and all roads lead to South West London for what promises to be an epic finale to this amazing series.
Also Read:Â ENG vs IND: Records Galore After Ben Stokes Heroics; KL Rahul & Shubman Gill Put Up A Fight