Ricky Ponting thinks there’s a bit of MS Dhoni in Ben Stokes’ match winning abilities
Ricky Ponting believes Ben Stokes' match-winning abilities are very similar to MS Dhoni.
MS Dhoni, Ben Stokes (Images via Rediff, The Telegraph)
Australia’s former World cup winning captain Ricky Ponting believes Ben Stokes‘ match-winning abilities are very similar to that of MS Dhoni. The English skipper’s solid knock of 155 kept England’s hope alive on an enthralling Day 5 of the second Ashes Test. Australia ended up winning the test but Stokes’ innings was what kept England in the game for long.
MS Dhoni is often lauded for his calm demeanor and ability to think straight in crucial moments. Ricky Ponting thinks Ben Stokes also has those skills and has them better than his current counterparts. Stokes has put up various match-winning performances for his side and seen his team through just like MS Dhoni.
Ben Stokes’ heroics in the 2019 Headingley Test were also a prime example of how well Stokes can handle pressure and convert his efforts into wins. On the same note Ricky Ponting compared his knock at Lord’s with that of Headingley’s and said, “I thought and everyone probably thought he could do it again because we’ve seen it happen before, but this was probably, slightly more runs that they were chasing (in 2019).”
Ricky Ponting lauds Ben Stokes
While appreciating Ben Stokes’ valiant effort on Day 5 of the second Ashes Test, Ponting said, “Ben batting in the middle order or later order like he does, probably finds himself in more match-winning opportunity situations than some others might.”
On the same course, comparing him to MS Dhoni, he said, “The first one that comes to mind is maybe someone like a Dhoni, who’s there at the end in a lot of T20 games, and finishing games, whereas Ben’s doing it at the end of Test matches, and there’s not, probably not many, many players through the history of the game that have found themselves in that sort of role and are there at the end winning games, and especially as a captain.”
Ponting drew a parallel between how Stokes and Dhoni as captains and middle-order and lower-middle-order batsmen have been more successful as compared to others in securing a win for their respective teams. Stokes was also a part of the CSK camp this year where he watched MS Dhoni up and close in his batting avatar.
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Navya Gupta
(87 Articles Published)