Pakistan’s challenge makes Ben Stoke ‘excited’
Ben Stokes is eager to captain England in this winter’s historic Test series against Pakistan.
With three matches planned for December, England will play Test cricket in Pakistan for the first time in 17 years. Prior to returning for the Test series, they will first play seven T20 Internationals in Pakistan as part of their preparation for the T20 World Cup.
Stokes is excited for his team to test themselves in the subcontinent after a stellar start to his captaincy that saw England win six Tests in a single summer for the first time since 2004.
Contrary to England, sub-continental cricket is frequently a slow grind. Australia, for example, needed 15 days of cricket to win their series in Pakistan by a single run during the final session of the final Test back in March.
The team has not played a series in Pakistan since 2005 because of security concerns, thus the question of whether coach Brendon McCullum’s explosive “Bazball” style can now have the same success in Pakistan remains.
We can’t live off the fact that we’ve won six out of seven games because a completely different challenge will be presented to us, Stokes said. “It is something that we are going to have to try to continue to do in Pakistan.”
“[We must] Move in the direction of the threat Pakistan poses to us. The environment in Pakistan will be quite different from here. However, we want to continue playing in the manner and with the form, we have displayed there.”
Pakistan’s challenge makes Ben Stoke ‘excited’
“The nation is hot. You won’t receive nearly as much help handling the ball as you do in England. There will be a lot more spin in your path. We are interested in taking on this new task.”
“To demonstrate that we can maintain a positive attitude in various circumstances and consistently work to put the pressure back on the opposition.”
Stokes asserts that his team has a “very high ceiling,” saying that it is an exciting thought. Who knows how far we can advance this cause in the next years? Two of our top fast bowlers have suffered significant injuries this summer and have missed a lot of cricket as a result.
“Now that Woody [Mark Wood] and Jofra [Archer] are both totally fit, it’s frightening to imagine where things could go, especially with the ball. There is a really high potential for this club that we can explore, especially with the batters that we have coming through.”
Prior to the first game of the series on September 20 in Karachi, England’s T20 squad, from which Stokes has been rested, lands in Pakistan on Thursday. Before the final three games of the series are played in Lahore, they will play three additional games in Karachi.
Jos Buttler will lead England as captain, although Moeen Ali is anticipated to do so during the team’s initial matches in Karachi while Buttler recovers from a calf injury.
Come and join me and @JoshDenzel live this month in Newcastle and Manchester for the @4cast4c ICONS series talking about the highs and lows of life and cricket.
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— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) September 2, 2022
