England Test captain Ben Stokes has received high praise following England’s dramatic victory over Pakistan. England were off to Pakistan, looking to continue their positive style of play, what many call ‘BazBall’ with coach Brendon “Baz” McCullum, that they showcased in the summer.
England scored a mammoth 657 in the first innings in just 101 overs at an incredible run rate of 6.50. After Pakistan also enjoyed themselves on the batter-friendly Rawalpindi pitch scoring 579, England continued to attack in their second innings, once again scoring at a good strike rate to post a further 264.
As the game reached tea on day four, Stokes and head coach McCullum made the brave call to declare to leave Babar Azam’s team 342 for victory. At the declaration, many had Pakistan down as the favorites due to the amount of time remaining in the game, as well as the conditions. The move, however, worked towards England’s advantage as they secured a 74-run win in the series opener.
‘I can’t think of any other captain….’- Michael Vaughan
Former England captain Michael Vaughan labeled the allrounder’s work as the best captaincy display he has ever seen and thinks that no other captain in the world would have got his team to bat like this and taking a brave call to declare the innings in the 2nd session on Day 4.
Vaughan took to Twitter to post, “One of the GREAT tests wins. I don’t know of any Captain in the history of Test cricket that would have got his team to Bat as his team did and then declare when he did .. unbelievable .. #PAKvENG.”
I don’t know of any Captain that would have declared when Ben did .. my thoughts https://t.co/E2br5sVF1M. @TelegraphSport #PAKvENG
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) December 5, 2022
Vaughan also talked about the match in detail and admitted that he wasn’t surprised with the timing of Stokes’ declaration.
“I can’t think of another captain who would have forced a win on that pitch – especially in the first Test of a three-match series away from home. They scored 921 runs at 6.7 an over across the match. They tried anything and everything with the ball. They declared at tea on day four, setting a target they knew Pakistan would chase down if the likes of Babar Azam got going. That was the only way it was ever going to be possible to win a Test on that pitch.
Here’s how Fans reacted to Vaughan tweet :
Virat kohli . Been there , done that
— Dr Swagat Satpathy (@Swagat45930686) December 5, 2022
Only one Virat by the i am not fan of him but he is the best
— Deepankur Rajdev (@DeepankurRajde1) December 5, 2022
Cmon Michael
— Devansh (@Devansh150) December 6, 2022
Remember virat kohli pic.twitter.com/4dplRS5oed
Well Steve Waugh did, Graeme Smith did and Virat at times too in going for victories rather playing for draws. Just because your batting run rate skyrocketed and creating an identity in aggressive approach doesn't mean other captains didn't try earlier. #OnOn.
— Lakers and Pain 💯 (@AManWithNoName0) December 5, 2022
You forgot this I think..England were favourites on day 5 and King Kohli and his team changed whole game.. pic.twitter.com/OoT8VzGaZD
— Krunal Prajapati (@krunal3086) December 5, 2022
Virat Kohli already had set ds example in 2014…glad other test captains following him now
— Iamhere17 (@Iamhere172) December 6, 2022
Would love to see Virat Kohli led team India vs Ben Stokes led team Eng test match! 🔥
— Hemanth (@hemanth27) December 5, 2022
Virat stated this few years ago…
— shyam prasad (@shyamdeena) December 5, 2022
Virat kohli . Been there , done that
— Dr Swagat Satpathy (@Swagat45930686) December 5, 2022
