IPL 2019: Ben Stokes reflects upon his and Rajasthan Royals' struggles

Stokes has not been able to perform with both bat and ball this year in the IPL.

Ben Stokes | IANS

In his debut IPL season two years back, English all-rounder Ben Stokes lit up the cash-rich T20 tournament and made 316 runs apart from picking 12 wickets for Rising Supergiants and ensured his team's outstanding campaign that ended with a defeat in the final against Mumbai Indians. 

As it turned out, that was RPS' last IPL. However, Stokes was rewarded for his magnificent performances in the subsequent auction as Rajasthan Royals fetched him at a very heavy sum. But the 27-year-old has since then not had the same level of impact for his second team in the league. In fact, this year, he is going through a horrid run with both bat and ball - which has reflected on Royals' fortunes, as the team has lost seven of its first ten games in the tournament and languishes at the seventh spot in the eight-team points table. 

"I wouldn't quite say up and down as that would be a bit generous. We haven't performed anywhere near the capabilities that we have," he told IANS. "The games we have won, we have won the critical moments and it is a shame that we have managed to do that in just two games. The big thing this year is that we haven't managed to win the critical moments."

"I think everybody would want to be consistent, but you take it as it comes. Everyone wants to go out and do their best every time, but sometimes it doesn't come off and you just wipe out that part. Also, if you do well, you can't live off that."

There have been claims that the infamous "Mankading" incident when Kings XI Punjab skipper R Ashwin ran out Royals' batsman Jos Buttler for backing up too far in the two team's opening game has had a mental impact on the side, but Stokes brushed such talks aside. 

"It is an easy thing to say, but it was just one of the situations that we were unfortunate to be involved in. Saying that impacted us would be an easy thing to say, but we haven't really mentioned it as such and we just haven't been good enough," he said. 

Stokes is a fast bowling all-rounder and his body takes huge workload each game, so when asked how important recovery time, fitness, planning and preparation are for him especially while playing IPL, the earnest cricketer replied, "It is tough as you got to go into training sessions knowing that you have your bowling workload as well as your batting workload. But you get used to it after so many years."

"But the harsh thing about the IPL is the number of games you play in such a short span of time and with all the travel involved. Also, you have to be mindful of the workload because you don't want to overdo it and then injure yourself when you have had a 9 hours travel or things like that. It is taxing, but I wouldn't want to change anything about what I do."

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 24 Apr, 2019

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