England captain Ben Stokes continued his incredible with the ball in the ongoing five-Test series against India, breaking his own record for the most overs bowled by himself during a Test series.
Stokes led the way with the ball for England on a hard-fought opening day, taking 2/47 in 14 overs, picking up the key wickets of captain Shubman Gll (12) and a well-set Sai Sudharsan for 61.
Stokes toiled relentlessly with the ball throughout the opening day. He delivered a five-over spell in the morning session, followed by a four-over spell and had an impactful five overs in the final session to lead England's spirited comeback on Day 1.
Even though a big knock with the bat continues to elude him, with just 163 runs in six innings at an average of 27.16 and best score of 44, Stokes has been England's miracle man with the ball.
He tops England's wicket charts with 13 scalps at an average of 28.53 in seven innings, with best figures of 4/66. He has bowled 119 overs in the series so far -- the most he has ever bowled in a Test series, surpassing his workload of 116.5 overs against Australia in the 2013-14 Ashes series (in eight innings, away from home) and 116.2 overs (in eight innings) against India in the 2018 series at home.
The 34-year-old all-rounder has been putting in the hard years despite returning from a long injury lay-off recently. With high-profile wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Gill, Karun Nair, K L Rahul and Sai Sudharsan being amongst his victims, he has essentially hunted the Indian top order really well and made an impact.
A fully fit Stokes, contributing decent numbers with the bat and bowling relentlessly is a good sign for England as they gear up for the all-important Ashes series against Australia, starting in November.
Stokes's one of the best spells with the ball was during the final day of the third Lord's Test, when he bowled almost 10 overs on the trot, getting the big wicket of K L Rahul. Bowling in tandem with Jofra Archer, they reduced India to 82/7 during a 193-run chase.
Later when Ravindra Jadeja was putting up a fight with tailender Jasprit Bumrah, Stokes brought back England into the game, ending a resillient 35-run stand which saw Bumrah soak up 54 deliveries and give Jadeja some freedom to play.
At Lord's, he bowled a total of 44 overs and took five wickets. Along with his knocks of 44 and 33 and a stunning Rishabh Pant run-out, he earned the 'Player of the Match' award.
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