Ashes 2021-22: Joe Root warns Australia about Ben Stokes after his underperforming performance in the first Brisbane Test.
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England lost the first Ashes test against Australia, and they are 0-1 behind in the series. The whole batting line-up of England collapsed in the first game, and this needs to change. Ben Stokes’ return was quite talked about, but he couldn’t deliver.
Stokes managed to score just 19 runs in the game, whereas he struggled a lot in bowling. He bowled a total of 14 no-balls, but they were not called due to the technology failure. Even, the knee injury of Ben Stokes has been a concern for him. A lot of people in the Australian media have been writing off Ben Stokes after the game.
Ashes 2021-22: Joe Root warns Australia about Ben Stokes
Ben Stokes didn’t play a single game since July due to a finger injury and mental health issues. He even missed the T20 World Cup for England. However, English captain Joe Root has warned Australians about taking Stokes lightly at their own risk. Root also confirms that Stokes will be fit to play the second test.
“I’m pretty sure he’ll be fit for Adelaide and one thing, you write Ben Stokes off at your own peril,” Root said.
“He’d be desperate to get back into this series and have a big say in how it all turns out.”
Sir Geoffrey Boycott has also backed Ben Stokes in his column for the UK Telegraph. He insists Stokes cannot be a “messiah” straight away after such a long break.
“Ben hasn’t played for five months, had a finger operation and rain ruined his practice.,” Boycott wrote.
“Then his first knock was on a testing pitch against, in my view, the two best seam bowlers in the world – Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.
“That would be tough for any batsman in good form. Too many players expected some magic from our talismanic all-rounder.”
Stokes has scored 4650 test runs, whereas he has also scalped 163 wickets in bowling. The 2nd Ashes 2021-22 D/N test will be played from 16 December 2021 at the Adelaide Oval.
