Steve Smith and Virat Kohli reserve special praise for Ben Stokes after the England captain’s ‘freak’ innings at Lord’s

Stokes almost did a repeat of Headingley 2019 as the England all-rounder scored 155 before falling to Josh Hazlewood. 

Steve Smith and Virat Kohli reserve special praise for Ben Stokes after the England captain’s ‘freak’ innings at Lord’s

Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, Virat Kohli (Images via Business Standard, ICC, HT)

England captain Ben Stokes received special praise from Steve Smith and Virat Kohli for his freak innings in the second Ashes Test. Stokes was up for repeating history on Sunday as the England captain looked to propel his team to victory against Australia in the second Test at Lord’s. Stokes almost did a repeat of Headingley 2019 as the England all-rounder scored 155 before falling to Josh Hazlewood. 

As the hosts looked to chase 371 in the fourth innings and win the second Test, Stokes stood in the middle to keep the hopes alive. Although England kept losing wickets from the other end, the skipper kept smashing Australia’s bowlers and it looked like Stokes will repeat his heroics from the Headingley Test from four years ago.

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However, it could not happen as Hazlewood got Stokes caught out. But that special innings from Stokes did earn him a lot of praise not just from fans but from his two rivals- Steve Smith and Virat Kohli. While the Australia batting stalwart called Stokes a freak, Kohli reminisced his “most competitive bloke” comment for the England captain.

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Virat Kohli and Steve Smith in awe of Ben Stokes

steve smith appreciates ben stokes
Steve Smith appreicated Ben Stokes (Image via ICC)

Steve Smith heaped praise on Stokes after the Australian was crowned the Player of the Match for his century in the first innings. 

“A bit of deja vu, he (Stokes) is an unbelievable player. He is a freak for what he can pull off in cricket – in different formats, on this ground, in this country, he has done some incredible things. He was targeting the short end, and the first shot that he tried the other end, he got out,” said Smith to Michael Atherton at the post-match presentation ceremony. 

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli shared a tweet hailing Stokes and explaining to everyone why he thinks Stokes is the most competitive bloke. “I wasn’t joking about calling Ben Stokes the most competitive bloke I’ve played against. Innings of the highest quality but Australia is too good at the moment,” tweeted Kohli on Sunday.

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