As Ben Stokes gear up to lead England in the upcoming Test series against West Indies, Nasser Hussain has heaped praise on 2019 World Cup-winning all-rounder, saying he is “a fighter of a character” who would make a very good captain.
Regular Test captain Joe Root will miss the first Test against West Indies scheduled to take place at the Ageas Bowl on July 8 to be his wife as the couple is expecting their second child during that period.
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Hussain, former England captain, and commentator believes that Stokes has very similar characteristics to India captain Virat Kohli as both have a great desire of winning games at any situation.
Interestingly, Root also finds a shade of Kohli in Stokes and even said the flamboyant all-rounder will lead England by example like the Indian skipper and Hussain also feels the latter will emerge as a good captain while comparing him with one of the greatest batsmen of the modern era.
Hussain said on Sony Ten’s Pit Stop show: “He [Stokes] is a fighter of a character. He thinks from every situation, you can win that game, and we have seen that at Headingley, we have seen that at the World Cup. He has very similar characteristics to Kohli, to be honest. He wants to win.”
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He further explained, “I think he would make a very good captain. The only problem with that is, I would say, in England, sometimes we have made our best cricketers and our all-rounder’s captains, whether it be [Ian] Botham or whoever. Sometimes, it doesn’t sit when you’ve got so much on your plate.”
The English legend signed off by saying, “Ben is a leader in that dressing room anyway. People look at him, even if he is vice-captain and go, ‘What’s Ben doing? How would Ben do this?’ I like it the way it is at the moment Joe [Root]’s captain, Ben is your vice-captain. There are leaders that don’t need the arm-band and I think Ben Stokes is one of those. But I think on a short-term basis, Ben Stokes in a one-off game at the Ageas Bowl, or maybe a couple of games, I think he would stand in and do a very good job.”
(With India Today Inputs)
