England captain Ben Stokes scripted historical past at Outdated Trafford in Manchester on Day 4 of the fourth Check in opposition to India, producing a efficiency that scripted historical past. Stokes’ 141 and a five-wicket haul not solely guided England right into a dominant place with a 311-run first innings lead but additionally noticed a cheeky response from India’s veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
Notably, Ashwin had questioned Stokes’ kind with the bat. In the meantime, Stokes answered with a 141 off 198 balls. His century, his first in two years, and after a drought of 35 innings. The English skipper had already made his mark with the ball within the first innings, choosing up a 5/72 to dismantle India’s batting lineup. With this uncommon double, Stokes grew to become solely the fifth captain in Check historical past, and the primary English one, to attain a century and take a five-wicket haul in the identical match.
He additionally joined greats Gary Sobers and Jacques Kallis as solely the third all-rounder to attain the double of 7000+ Check runs and 200+ wickets. Nevertheless, earlier within the collection, Ashwin had questioned Stokes’ contributions with the bat. Submit Stokes’ knock, a fan took a dig at Ashwin on X. “Anna (Massive Brother) @ashwinravi99, that is Ben Stokes #BenStokes,” the fan wrote.
To which Ashwin replied, “Arrey (Consideration), sir ji, nobody doubted his class! He received his first fifer after 2017; this recreation was 100 after two years! This has come due to his conventional take a look at match method to batting and never the carefree one he had adopted earlier than this. Ben Stokes is a superb participant. I take my hat off to him. However we have to keep in mind one factor. Barring that Headingley heroics within the Ashes, what has he achieved as a batter? The readiness to play a Check match in the way in which a Check match must be performed—that’s the drawback from the management standpoint. You might be telling each batter to go and play an attacking model of cricket, so it’s worthwhile to play like that solely.”
Arrey sir ji, nobody doubted his class! He received his first fifer after 2017 this recreation 100 after 2 years!
This has come due to his conventional take a look at match method to batting and never the carefree one he had adopted earlier than this.
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) July 26, 2025
Stokes’s all-round brilliance got here at an vital second within the collection. With England already main 2-1 after dramatic wins in Leeds and Lord’s, his efficiency additional tilted the momentum within the hosts’ favour. England’s mammoth 669 was constructed on his knock, Joe Root’s 150, and contributions from the highest order. In the meantime, India, after dropping two fast wickets of their second innings, noticed skipper Shubman Gill and KL Rahul stabilise the innings. On the time of writing, India’s scorecard learn 86/2 after 29 overs, and so they path by 225 runs.
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