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    • PAK vs ENG 3rd Test Day 3 – Captain Stokes loses his luster as Rawalpindi's return ends in a resounding defeat
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    PAK vs ENG 3rd Test Day 3 – Captain Stokes loses his luster as Rawalpindi's return ends in a resounding defeat

    Kathleen William Posted on

    Rawalpindi was the scene of Ben Stokes' best performance as England captain and this week, two years later, his worst. It took his side less than 24 hours to convert a dominant position in the series decider into a nine-wicket defeat, to which Stokes himself contributed 15 runs, an unusually flat performance in the field and no overs bowled.
    When Stokes made mistakes as captain of the England team, they were generally the result of overconfidence in his beliefs, such as in the defeats to New Zealand in Wellington or Australia at Edgbaston. This was something different, a loss that was primarily down to England's own limitations as Stokes seemed to have run out of ideas.
    That was certainly true of his knock on the final day, a nine-ball cameo with another absurd ending. After seeing Noman Ali get sharp spin from the footholes in his previous over, Stokes pulled his bat back when he was faced with a delivery that barely turned and was hit on the inside of the thigh of his back leg. Not many cowboys have given no chance at a gunfight and lived to tell the tale.
    Even in a desperate situation, Stokes realized it would have been futile to ask for a review and simply trudged back to the dressing room. He had found a method and stuck to it in his second innings last week, sweeping away almost every ball before being dismissed with a bizarre bat toss, but that permission betrayed a complete lack of conviction from the Pakistan spinners.
    Stokes will be more relieved than anyone about England's upcoming schedule, which does not see a return to the subcontinent for a Test until early 2027. His career average in Asia is now 26.46, down to just 18.00 over 14 innings this year. After missing England's win in Multan, he has now lost six consecutive overseas Tests: four in India and two in Pakistan.

    He said afterwards that he couldn't have done anything differently: “You see how hard everyone works on all aspects of their game and sometimes those things just don't suit you.” It felt like a moment of acceptance in which Stokes practically admitting that he is not equipped to run on a turning surface like this, no matter how hard he trains.

    Stokes' captaincy on England's last tour to Pakistan was brilliant as he managed 60 wickets in three Tests played on empty pitches – no more than in Rawalpindi. But this week he left the game on the second afternoon: Pakistan added 167 for their last three wickets, reinforcing the familiar trend of England struggling to dispatch their teams.

    Before the lunch break, which was extended due to Friday prayers, Stokes had used his legspinner brilliantly, giving Rehan Ahmed an in-out field for an eight-over spell that brought the wickets of Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Agha and Aamer Jamal. But Rehan was only introduced in the ninth over of the middle session and struggled to find his length after changing sides.
    Gus Atkinson, meanwhile, did not bowl between the end of the 70th over and the start of the 96th over as Pakistan added 132 for 1. When he returned, he beat centurion Saud Shakeel with his sixth ball. Stokes himself didn't bowl a ball in the match: “I just didn't feel like my bowling would be anywhere near as threatening as the (other) options, that we had.”
    He was unusually irritable in Multan and even apologized to his teammates after taking out his frustration on them following a series of fielding errors on the third day. Stokes played the tosser's role in that defeat but could not make the same excuse in Rawalpindi. “I am very happy that we lost the toss and won the game,” said Shan Masood, Pakistan captain.
    Stokes made it clear that the two months of rehabilitation after tearing his hamstring had taken a lot out of him. “It felt like a very long tour,” he said. “Come here to try and get fit for the first Test, not fit for this, get fit for the second Test, played that, straight to the third…” It’s not Stokes’ style, but he might have could be better served, physically and mentally, because I missed the tour completely.
    He's at an interesting point. Stokes confirmed at the start of this tour that he had signed a new main contract but would not say whether he would take part in the upcoming IPL auction or whether he would return to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy in February. He has based his 2024 entirely on Tests, but has so far averaged 24.66 with the bat and taken six wickets.

    Stokes seemed unwilling to look inward after the defeat, instead looking ahead to England's upcoming tour to New Zealand. “The great thing about the cricket schedule is the challenges that cricket brings,” he said. “You'll face a challenge, you try to overcome it, but then very quickly in two or three weeks we'll face another challenge, and that's in New Zealand.”

    It's all well and good trying to progress quickly and England won't be playing in these conditions at any point in the next two years. But when Stokes reflects on these defeats he will look not only at England's well-known deficiencies in play and bowling spin, but also at his own deficiencies as captain.

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    Kathleen William
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