Ricky Ponting reckons Ben Stokes as the most potential candidate to take over as England’s Test team captain after Joe Root.
Advertisement
Cometh the New Year, England team’s misfortunes keeps getting caught up in a never-ending spiral, carrying on with the old year misery and woes refusing to heal.
On the back of back-to-back centuries in a single Test coming from Usman Khawaja’s bat, the Aussies move one step further towards a likely 5-0 whitewash in the ongoing Ashes Test series, with the 4th Test match underway at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
With a touch over 10 Overs remaining in the 4th day’s play, Australia, declaring at 265/6 had set an improbable 388-run target for Joe Root’s men to open their account in the series.
Although the pair of Zak Crawley (22*) and Haseeb Hameed (8*) managed to survive the 11 Overs they batted during the fag end of the day, the most they can do now is manage a Draw.
Decorated former Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting, post the day’s play reflected on Joe Root’s Test captaincy future, and was of the view that Root’s further continuation as England’s Test captain would wear him down.
Ricky Ponting reckons Ben Stokes as the most potential candidate
The 47-year-old reckons star England all-rounder Ben Stokes as the most suitable replacement for Joe Root as England’s Test captain as in the best interest of the team going forward.
“The only person that can take over is Ben Stokes. I think Stokes would actually grow as a player if he was the captain of that side. I think with a bit of extra responsibility, he might become an even better player and that might have a good impact on the rest of the team,” Ponting was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
“You’ll find instances right the way through even with top-order batters where it hasn’t worked. It just sits well with some and doesn’t with others. I don’t know Ben Stokes that well, but if I was trying to change the face of English cricket and trying to give a bit more of a heartbeat and a bit more soul, then I think he’d be the one that I’d be looking at to lead the team. Even with what we saw yesterday, to stand up under that much physical pain says a lot about him, and his teammates will thrive off that. Anyone that plays underneath him, I’m sure will grow an arm and a leg,” Ponting further added.
Stokes, alongside Jonny Bairstow (113) had managed to notch up his half-century with a 91-ball 61 in the first innings, despite having suffered a side injury towards his left while bowling earlier, to pull England out of yet another collapse with the team down to 36/4 at one point in time.
Ponting further warned Root that continuing as Test captain after the ongoing Ashes could wear him down, drawing parallels with the final days of his own captaincy stint and Root’s current scenario. “I just think it’s going to grind him down. Even looking back on my career, I played a couple of years longer — and potentially even captained a couple of years longer — than I should have. The challenge just gets harder and harder, and it weighs you down.”
