Even though Suryakumar Yadav‘s strokes have left England’s all-rounder Ben Stokes scratching his head in amazement, Stokes is optimistic that his team’s bowling attack would be able to control the rampaging Indian batsman in the Twenty20 World Cup semi-final match against India.
In addition to this, he lavished admiration on the legendary Indian cricket player Virat Kohli, stating that Kohli has “earned the right to be never written off.” The leading all-rounder for England is confident yet reserved about his team’s chances in the important semi-final that will take place on Thursday.
“It’s apparent that Suryakumar came into the world and lit it on fire. He is a superb player who occasionally plays shots that leave you bewildered and wondering how he did it. He is in fantastic shape, but we can only hope that this
“We can attempt to shut him down and not allow him to get on one of his rampages,” Stokes, who has been impressive with the ball, told reporters during an interaction that was organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). Stokes has been impressive with the ball.
In reference to Virat Kohli, with whom Stokes has had a strong competitive relationship over the years, the Durham man expressed his bewilderment at the ease with which a player of that magnitude could be written off following a downhill spiral.
“I believe that with Virat, he might have four great years like he had, and then have a not so loud couple of months, and then for some reason plays like that, and gets written off, and we have no idea why.”
I believe he has proven himself worthy of being taken seriously at any time in the future. According to Stokes, Kohli’s statistics are so good that they practically speak for themselves.
“It’s alright if you don’t create the figures and the innings that he (Kohli) does in all three forms,” Kohli said. “We as players and people who play against him a lot, we never take whatever he has done in the game before into the game we have got here,” added Stokes. “We never take anything he has done in the game into the game we have got here.”
“We are competing against a very formidable Indian team.”
Ben Stokes acknowledged that England have advanced to the semi-finals without “playing their best cricket” thus far; however, he predicted that this would not be the case on a significant day or when facing a strong Indian squad.
“I think the manner that we have managed to go through not playing our best cricket so far and now we find ourselves here speaks volumes about how resilient our team is. So it goes without saying that it’s exciting. Stokes summed up the situation by saying that “things are what they are,” and that “but we know we need to get this game done on Thursday,” against a very strong Indian squad that no one would ever take lightly.
This is as a direct result of the type of team that they are as well as the players that they have on their roster. However, we want to concentrate more on our team and try not to think too much about them.” In point of fact, he didn’t want to draw any conclusions from the poor batting performance of the other team’s captain, Rohit Sharma.
“Players of their calibre, like Rohit, can compete at the highest levels. Because you have witnessed him perform that action a great number of times, you are unable to draw any conclusions from what he did in the game before this one (in big games).
“He is one of the best players to ever compete in this game, and especially in this format.” We won’t be treating him like a joke in the least.”
Ben Stokes did not give a definitive answer when he was asked whether or not spin will play a significant factor in Adelaide under floodlights. “I have a good feeling about it, but I can’t say for certain how significant of a part it will play.”