LONDON: England captain Ben Stokes put his body on the line to inspire his side’s dramatic victory over India at Lord’s, according to team-mate Joe Root.
Stokes took five wickets, scored 77 runs and delivered a crucial run-out of Rishabh Pant in two innings of relentless effort from the all-rounder.
Driven on by Stokes, England won the third Test by 22 runs on a pulsating final day to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
Most remarkable of all was the workload that the injury-prone Stokes put his body through as he bowled 44 overs in total, including gruelling spells of 9.2 and 10 overs on the decisive final day.
It was the most the 34-year-old has bowled in over six years and came after two severe hamstring injuries in the past 12 months.
Root watched on in awe, remembering his own attempts to stop Stokes pushing himself past the limit during his own captaincy.
“You can try, but it doesn’t make any difference. I tried for five years,” Root said.
“I mentioned it but he doesn’t always listen to me. He didn’t listen to me when I was captain!
“That’s his call now. It was an incredible effort to be able to do that, but that’s just how he’s built, I guess. He’s just desperate to be the man and make things happen.
