Ben Stokes: All-round spearhead battling batting slump and towering expectations

Imagine having someone in your team who can win you a game with the bat out of nowhere. Or a cricketer who can bowl at more than 135 kmph and produce moments of magic to break the game open. Or a player who can be brilliant in the field, often making people wonder what is indeed possible when playing this sport. And if you have pictured all of that, chances are you may have stumbled upon Ben Stokes. Capable of anything and everything. Which also means that he is often held to incredibly high standards. Whether it be with bat, or with ball, or, more recently, as Test captain.    

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Stokes’ struggles with the bat

Stokes has huffed and puffed with the bat, and by every yardstick in the past couple of years. In 30 innings since the start of 2024, he has averaged 27.64 – the lowest among all England batters to have scored a minimum of 500 runs in this period. The series against India has not been very kind to Stokes either, and he currently averages 27.16, having mustered 163 runs across six innings.    

On Sunday, Stokes did better than that average, managing 33. But when the situation demanded a captain’s knock, and when England required Ben Stokes to do Ben Stokes things, he perished to Washington Sundar for the second game running – this time, attempting a hack across the line.    

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Before that, Stokes, alongside Joe Root, had opted to err on the side of caution. They allowed India to bowl the way they wanted and were content to bide their time, rather than transferring pressure. It inadvertently led to a situation where England, despite being 154-4, never really felt in control of the game, and so it proved.    

While the help India’s bowlers were getting may have played a part, not to mention the vivid image of Harry Brook losing his middle stump while trying to sweep Akash Deep, that sort of indecision - of blocking, blocking, blocking and then trying to be gung-ho, is, well, not quite the brand of cricket Stokes has preached from the very start.    

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Ben Stokes walks back to the pavilion. #SonySportsNetwork #GroundTumharaJeetHamari #ENGvIND #NayaIndia #DhaakadIndia #TeamIndia #ExtraaaInnings | @SundarWashi5 pic.twitter.com/ejmGmFKaIb

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They scored 192 across 62.1 overs in their second innings at Lord’s, which roughly comes out to a scoring rate of 3.08 per over – the fourth-lowest in the Bazball era. Five of their seven-lowest innings run-rate, in fact, have come against India, with their two essays at Lord’s a part of that list. Of those, the game at Lord’s against New Zealand – the first with Brendon McCullum and Stokes in charge – is the only match they have won (so far).  

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Bowling brilliance keeps England in the fight

Thankfully for the hosts, their bowlers did put in a good shift to try and set that record straight, making the most of whatever help was on offer. Jofra Archer bagged Yashasvi Jaiswal for the second time in as many innings in his very first over. They had to wait a little longer for their next wicket, but Brydon Carse’s spell as the clock ticked away, where he bowled like a man possessed, hauled England back.  

He trapped Karun Nair as the latter tried to shoulder arms, and then pinned Shubman Gill on the front pad. Stokes, who was bowling snorters every now and then from the other end, landed the final blow of the day by sending Akash Deep’s off-stump flying. All of which has left the game tantalizingly poised, with both sides in with a real shout to surge ahead in the series on Monday.    

But irrespective of how this match pans out, it will be tough to escape that Stokes, despite having all the tools a batter normally needs, has simply not been pulling his weight enough in the past couple of years. And while his overall value, as captain and perhaps as the premier pace-bowling all-rounder in the world, is not under an iota of doubt, the lack of runs will sting. And they will hurt too.    

BEN STOKES YA BEAUTY! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/oBGgKRPVmI

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 13, 2025

Knowing Stokes and McCullum, though, it is quite likely that will not even bat an eyelid at this criticism. Because, well, they know what Stokes brings to the table, and how, despite a largely underwhelming series, he could still be the point-of-difference come Monday, and probably the man that definitively turns this series England’s way, through sheer bowling grit.      

But deep down, as Stokes, innings after innings, fails to deliver on his immense batting promise and his numbers keep plummeting, they will feel a slight pinch. Not due to the pressure overawing them, but because both of them know exactly what Stokes is capable of.        

He is part of a very short list of current cricketers who can put a team on their back, irrespective of opposition and circumstance. But in the last couple of years, that has seldom happened (if at all), and it has not materialized in three games against India this home season either.  

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The weight of expectation and potential for redemption

Stokes, of course, can turn it around. And if a cricketer like Stokes cannot, probably no one in the world can. As a team too, England can turn it around. They only need to look back at the most recent Ashes installment on these shores to find inspiration.    

They were 2-0 down by the time the third Test came around and yet, finished the series feeling they were the unlucky side not to win it. Now, they are deadlocked 1-1, and if they can rekindle the spark that defined the last half an hour of day four, there is every reason for them to believe they will be on the hill and 2-1 up before moving to Manchester.      

Stokes may well play a vital part in that pursuit. And while it would perhaps feel a little greedy to expect him to win matches for England with the bat, the ball, in the field and as a captain calling the shots and leading from the front, it is not entirely beyond him either. Stokes is just that good.  And while that is a blessing in most cases, that, in a crux, might also explain the frustration over his recent batting returns, and why England simply need his runs.