Ben Stokes, England’s captain, said he had apologized to his players for his show of frustration on the third evening in Multan, at the point that the second Test against Pakistan began to slip out of his team’s control in a spate of dropped catches and fielding lapses.
Ben Stokes, back in the side for the first time in nine weeks after a hamstring tear had ruled him out of their home series against Sri Lanka as well as last week’s first Test, told Sky Sports that he had behaved like a “tired and grumpy old man” when bawling out his players at a critical juncture of Pakistan’s second innings.
Brendon McCullum, England’s head coach, admitted he had been surprised that Stokes had felt it necessary to speak out on the matter, but put his annoyance down to the passion that epitomizes his character. Without it, he said, Stokes could not have driven himself back to full fitness so soon after suffering a serious hamstring tear.
Pakistan won the match after 2021 on their home soil to disappoint Ben Stokes on field.
The flashpoint came in the midst of a wholehearted spell of reverse-swing bowling from Brydon Carse, who had just dismissed Mohammad Rizwan for the third time in the series to raise England’s hopes of restricting Pakistan to a sub-150 second-innings total.
Two overs later, however, with Salman Agha in his sights, Carse suffered two drops in the space of three balls – first as Jamie Smith spilled a regulation nick behind the stumps with Salman on 4, and then again on 6 when Joe Root, standing unusually close at first slip, couldn’t close his hands around a fenced edge off the back foot. Salman would go on to make an innings-defining 63 from 89 balls.
Then, when Jack Leach fumbled at point to give away an unnecessary single in Carse’s subsequent over, Stokes let out a roar of exasperation – which, while understandable in the circumstances, was out of character for a captain who has extolled a blame-free environment in the course of his two-and-a-half year reign.
In a match dominated by spinners, with Pakistan’s Sajid Khan and Noman Ali becoming the first bowling pair to share all 20 wickets since 1972, both Stokes and McCullum agreed that Carse’s luckless display had been one of the outstanding aspects of the contest. He finished with match figures of 5 for 79 across 29 overs, bowling with heart, pace and skill throughout, while also contributing a spirited innings of 27 from 32 balls on the final morning.
Bazball was given a major reality check as England stumbled to a massive 152-run loss against Pakistan in the second Test of the three-match series in Multan. After winning the first Test, England were looking to wrap up the series, but Pakistan spinners Noman Ali and Sajid Khan had different plans. The spin duo combined forces to take 20 wickets to help Pakistan level the three-match series. This is Pakistan’s first Test win at home in three years. They have also snapped their winless 11-match streak in the longest format at home.
After the end of the match, Ben Stokes also revealed that he apologized to his team for letting the emotions get better of him on the third day of the Test match. For the unversed, England dropped quite a few chances on Day 3, and this irritated the hell out of Ben Stokes.
Ben Stokes apologizes for frustration on the field during ENG vs PAK 2nd Test 2024
England captain Ben Stokes apologized for expressing his frustration on the field during Pakistan’s second innings with the bat during the second Test in Multan. England suffered multiple lapses, dropping Salman Agha Ali twice in three balls at a crucial stage on Day 3, resulting in Stokes’ visible anger.
The missed chances proved costly as Salman scored a crucial 63 to take Pakistan past 200 on a challenging wicket and set England a target of 297. Eventually, the visitors succumbed to a trial by spin in their run-chase to fall short by 152 runs on Day 4.
Speaking about his frustrations on Day 3, Stokes said post-game on Sky Sports that he apologized to the team.
“It’s the first time in my captaincy that I’ve let my emotions about the game and how it was unfolding show with my body language. I own up to that and I’m very annoyed with myself for letting that out. It’s something I don’t want to do or be seen to be doing so I apologized to the group. I was a tired, grumpy old man but you won’t see that again,” he said.
Ben Stokes missed the first Test which England won by an innings and 47 runs with a hamstring injury. He struggled on his return with the bat, combining for only 38 runs across the two innings.
“If we had won the toss it could have been completely different and it would have looked like a silly decision” – Ben Stokes
Ben Stokes did not mince words when asked about the Multan wicket that was the same as the one used for the first Test. He said winning the toss and using the conditions in their favor made Pakistan’s decision to opt for such a pitch not look silly.
“They used the home conditions in their favor. If we had won the toss it could have been completely different and it would have looked like a silly decision. The toss was always going to be massive, me and Shan knew that,” he said.
Pakistan’s frontline spinners Sajid Khan and Noman Ali picked up all 20 wickets, making it the first time in over 50 years that two bowlers took all 20 wickets in a Test. The win ended Pakistan’s winless streak in Tests at home for over three years and their overall Test streak at six.
The three-match series is now level at 1-1 with the decider set to be played in Rawalpindi, starting October 24.Pakistan and England will now play in the series decider, beginning October 24.