Ben Stokes has transformed the team’s mood, but there is still work to do on their mindset
Ben Stokes played his 100th Test in Rajkot last week, an occasion preceded by countless breathless profiles, articles that portrayed him almost as a superhuman, playing his own game, dancing to his own tune. He was described as an innovator, a visionary and a masterly captain. Well, sport has a way of putting you in your place and India certainly did that.
I don’t want to minimise Stokes’s achievements. Visiting Lord’s and the Oval during the Ashes series last summer I did a few Q&As with fans in lunch breaks. There is no doubt the public were enthralled by his team. As captain he inherited a group that were playing poorly and losing. He has taken the pressure off them, galvanised them and given them a method they are happy to use.