R Ashwin has made a scathing assault on the batting credentials of England captain Ben Stokes. Ashwin defined Stokes’ dismissal within the second innings of the Edgbaston Take a look at and criticised England’s conceitedness for attempting to chase 608 runs as a substitute of going for a draw.“Ben Stokes is a wonderful participant. I take my hat off to him. However we have to bear in mind one factor. Barring that Headingley heroics within the Ashes, what has he achieved as a batter?” Ashwin mentioned on his Hindi YouTube channel “Ash Ki Baat.”
“The readiness to play a Take a look at match in the way in which a Take a look at match must be performed—that’s the downside from the management standpoint. You’re telling each batter to go and play an attacking model of cricket, so it’s worthwhile to play like that solely,” he mentioned.Ashwin identified a technical deficiency in Stokes’ batting.“Go and test Ben Stokes’ dismissal towards Washington Sundar. The ball drifted superbly, it got here on properly, and I settle for all these items—however simply discover one factor: Washy’s launch is from huge of the crease. He has launched it from the nook of the crease. Have a look at Ben Stokes’ head place—it’s coinciding with Rishabh Pant’s head—and he performed the road the place Washington Sundar launched the ball. Have a look at his foot. His leg is totally straight like an arrow. There isn’t a bend in his knees. The leg stays straight solely if you’re trying to tonk the ball. In T20 cricket and white-ball cricket, you decide the primary line delivered from the hand, because the ball would not get a lot drift and you may smash it—however not in Take a look at cricket,” he defined.Ashwin then slammed England’s batting efficiency on Day 5.“You’re batting on the stroke of lunch, last day of the Take a look at match. ‘We’ll go for 608 runs’—that is nothing however absolute hara-kiri and mockery. You possibly can’t go for 608 runs, boss.“You’ve got the rain, and the one factor you wanted was to attract the match. However you need to keep true to your fashion of play. That individual intuition to hit the ball is costing you these small dismissals.”
