Ben Stokes, the England captain, dismissed worries about his workload in the third Test against India at Lord’s. Stokes didn’t just set a high standard for his teammates but also for India’s pace bowlers in the last two games. He bowled a whopping 44 overs and grabbed five wickets, which aided his team in securing a close 22-run victory. Experts lauded the 34-year-old for disregarding workload management.
Stokes’ efforts sparked comparisons to India’s Jasprit Bumrah, who will only play in three of the five Tests. Like Stokes, Bumrah has had injury problems. Despite India’s loss in the first game at Leeds, Bumrah skipped the second Test in Birmingham to manage his workload, a decision made before the tour. India’s assistant coach, Ryan ten Doeschate, spoke about the comparisons and praised Stokes for pushing himself despite the risk of injury.
It was very amazing to see Ben bowl so many overs with such intensity on the last day, plus he bats and fields too. We don’t want to compare our bowlers to others, ten Doeschate mentioned in a press conference.
He added, We have our own good points. We know Jasprit likes to bowl shorter spells.
Stokes has battled injuries during his career, recently having surgery for a hamstring tear in January.
Ten Doeschate defended the Indian team management’s strategy when asked if they should use Bumrah like Stokes.
He explained, Some bowlers perform best in their seventh, eighth, or ninth over, like Siraj. But not everyone is the same. We think that using Jasprit the way we do, after talking with him, is what’s best for the team.
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