Ahead of the third Test match between India and England at Lord’s, Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has strongly criticized English captain Ben Stokes. Ashwin has questioned Stokes’ captaincy as well as his batting in the second Test played in Birmingham. In Birmingham, Ashwin has strongly condemned Stokes’ shot selection, body language and the decisions taken by him. According to Ashwin, Stokes is solely responsible for England’s defeat in the second Test.
Table of Contents
On his Hindi YouTube channel “Ash Ki Baat”, Ashwin praised Stokes but downplayed his contribution to red ball cricket. Ashwin has called Stokes’ past achievements excellent. He praised Stokes’ innings of 135 runs in the 2019 Ashes played at Headingley. But Scots have questioned his consistency as a Test batsman. Ashwin said that apart from Stokes’ brilliant innings in the Ashes, he has failed with the bat, especially in high-pressure matches.
Ashwin said, Ben Stokes is a great player. I respect him. But we need to remember what has Stokes achieved as a batsman apart from the brilliant innings played at Headingley?
Questions raised on Stokes’ captaincy
Ash Anna has also criticized England’s decision to chase 608 runs on the last day of the second Test. He has called it a joke. Not only this, he has also blamed England’s loyalty to badball.
According to Anna, after the possibility of rain, England’s focus should have been on drawing the match but they did not do so and lost wickets unnecessarily by playing aggressively. Ashwin has no problem with playing aggressive cricket but taking wrong decisions considering the delicacy of the time shows poor captaincy and cricket’s ignorance.
He said, you were batting just before lunch on the fifth day of the second Test. We will chase 608 runs, it was just a joke. You cannot chase 608 runs. The forecast of rain was in front of you. In such a situation, you should have focused on drawing the match. But you had to play your own kind of case. This is the reason why you are losing wickets quickly.
Naah man I have not seen any top cricketer being bullied this much by a bowler.There is a reason Stokes has been a walking wicket against us.Ashwin has owned him throughout his career.The worst thing is that Stokes has been bullied by our pacers too in England #INDvsENG #STOKES https://t.co/E3sfuK2zSy pic.twitter.com/vjGNziCVi2
— Cover Drive (@day6596) July 7, 2025
Wickets lost due to poor technique
Ashwin did not stop here. He has talked in detail about Stokes’ dismissal by Washington Sundar in the second innings of the second Test. Anna has accused the English captain of playing with the technique of white ball cricket in red ball cricket.
He said, go and watch Ben Stokes’ dismissal against Sundar. The ball drifted beautifully, it was a good ball, all these things are fine, but notice one thing. Washi released it from the corner of the crease. Now look at the position of Ben Stokes’ head, it is near Rishabh Pant’s head. He played the ball on the line from where Sundar released it.
