England not stoked about Ben Stokes after India-England World Cup clash

England's Ben Stokes out for a duck on October 29 in the 2023 ICC World Cup India vs England group match in Lucknow. (Photo: Reuters)

Ben Stokes trundled into the middle of the Ekana International Cricket Stadium on Sunday night at the start of the sixth over of England’s chase against India. Jasprit Bumrah’s twin strikes had pushed the defending World Cup champions to the back foot, 30 for two and needing another 200 for only their second win in a tournament they had entered as one of the strong favourites.

Stokes is England’s Test captain, the shaper of many a miracle, the man who fashioned their victory over New Zealand in the final of the corresponding event at Lord’s four and a half years back. He is their talisman, a larger-than-life figure who has elevated himself to superhuman status with his scarcely believable heroics on the cricket field. He had had a quiet World Cup, but given Stokes’ propensity to do Stokes things, the possibilities were endless, weren’t they?

Except, that they weren’t.

Stokes’ miserable stay in the middle lasted a measly, torturous 10 deliveries; he put bat to ball maybe thrice in that brief sojourn. Thrice he charged Mohammed Shami, trying to cart him into orbit, only for the ball to jag away from him at the last instant and elude his floundering willow. With each passing second, Stokes’ unease grew. Used to calling the shots and unamused at being embarrassed thus in front of a large gathering, Stokes threw caution to the wind, backing away to try and smite Shami through the covers. The ball wasn’t there for the adventurous shot; it kept coming into him and crashed into the middle stump, putting him out of his misery. Ten balls, no runs, the Ben fire barely stoked.

In July 2022, Stokes announced his retirement from One-Day International cricket to extend his England career in the other two formats. It was understandable, given his battles with a protesting body that prevented him from pulling his weight as an all-rounder. It was met with understanding and empathy, England’s cricket bosses and the public who deified him grateful to have his services for Tests and T20Is.

Last month, out of the blue, Stokes announced that he would make a comeback to 50-over internationals so that he could contribute to England’s defence of the World Cup. He would play solely as a batsman and his late decision meant one of the others who had been an integral part of the set-up in the preparatory period leading into the tournament would miss out, but no one was complaining. After all, this was Stokes.

But, like England, Stokes has been woefully below par over the last three and a half weeks, a pale shadow of the majestic force of nature that has made him an icon of the cricket world. He missed the first three matches due to injury; the last three have been as forgettable, England’s campaign in tatters as they flounder from one defeat to another, from one catastrophic loss to the next one.

Five out of six. That’s the tally of losses England have stacked up at the World Cup. Their vanquishers include New Zealand and Afghanistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka, and now India. They have been spanked by a country mile by all these five teams, their consolation win against Bangladesh so long back and so inconsequential that it barely registers on the radar. England were expected to make a strong pitch for the semis, if not for the crown itself; yet, they are now embarrassingly propping up the table, firmly entrenched in the No. 10 position and desperate to get on the plane back home even though mathematically, they are still in with a chance of making it to the semifinals.

England redefined the approach to one-day cricket after their first-round elimination in the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Handpicking individuals unafraid to espouse their brand of explosive fearlessness, they reshaped their mindsets, recalibrated their game plans and excited and exhilarated with their electric array of stroke-makers that no ground was big enough to shackle. They intimidated teams, much like the great West Indian sides of the 1970s and 1980s had done, and no one grudged them their World Cup triumph in 2019 even if, in reality, they didn’t defeat New Zealand in the final.

Since then, England’s focus has veered away from 50-over cricket somewhat. Like a child that has finally got the toy it so desperately desired but since lost interest, England have been more seized by the need to lord Test cricket through their Bazball methodology and to dominate T20 cricket, in which they are the world champions after winning the World Cup in Australia last year. Maybe, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that their 50-over World Cup campaign has been so underwhelming, but such has been the finality of their abject capitulation that their shock, dismay and the reality of their singular inability to arrest the slide has been palpable.

India on Sunday provided England another reality check on the dangers of life in the fast lane. Having themselves readjusted their approach to 50-over cricket, the hosts set ego aside on a dodgy surface, their admirable skipper Rohit Sharma leading a measured batting display that was hardly monumental, yet 100 runs too many for England. India have been intrepid and indomitable at the World Cup, their all-round brilliance extinguishing many a fire and catapulting them to the top of the table with six victories from as many matches. Their familiarity with the conditions has helped, without a doubt, but so has their adaptability, their versatility and their ability to plug gaping holes such as the one created by the temporary unavailability of Hardik Pandya.

In India’s sustained success is a lesson for England. It isn’t just enough to get to the top, it is imperative to stay there and that entails even more hard work than the journey to the summit. Perhaps, so unused to glory are England that they are easily satisfied, because there can be no other explanation for a team with such proven match-winners imploding this spectacularly even in the absence of extraneous pressure. Who would have thought, heading into their opener against New Zealand in Ahmedabad on October 5, that England would become the whipping boys of the World Cup? Fact can, truly and occasionally, be stranger than fiction.