Ben Stokes is all set to lead England for the first time in the opening Test of three-match Test series against West Indies on July 8 at Southampton, and former captain Naseer Hussain said there’s no better choice than the star all-rounder to step in for Joe Root as a short-term captain.
Stokes has been named England Test captain for the Southampton Test, as Root will miss the first Test against West Indies next week to be with his wife as the couple is expecting their second child during the series opener at the Ages Bowl and Hussain feels the all-rounder will do a great job in Joe’s absence.
Read Also: ENG v WI 2020: Joe Root to miss First Test; Ben Stokes named captain
The dynamic Stokes is probably the most prominent and key player in the England set-up at the moment and even the country hasn’t seen such a figure for long, given his prowess with both bat and ball apart from his incredible ability to perform under extreme pressure for the side.
Since his comeback from the controversial row of street brawl incident in 2017, the star all-rounder has emerged as a match-winner for England, guiding his team to glory on several times, in fact, his heroics made England the champions of World Cup 2019 for the first time in their cricketing history.
Stokes’ ability to deliver in any opposition across three formats of the game makes him a special player and such players are often considered for the captaincy, although, Hussain isn’t in favor of handing over the full-time captaincy to the all-rounder in the future.
However, the former captain insisted that Root doesn’t have to worry, as he feels “very loyal” Stokes would bring the passion and the maximum level of energy leading England against the West Indies.
Read Also: ENG v WI 2020: "Getting to captain England a huge honour", says Ben Stokes
Hussain wrote in his column for the Daily Mail: “There is no one better than Ben Stokes to step in for Joe Root as a short-term captain when England take on West Indies in the first Test next week.
He added, “Stokes is extremely loyal, so Root would not have to worry he would be handing his job over to someone with any kind of ulterior motive of wanting to take it for good. When Joe returns Ben will happily hand the captaincy back to him. He will certainly bring passion and energy to captaincy.”
Meanwhile, the well-known cricket expert backs Stokes for only the short-term captaincy, as a full-time role might affect his performance being a very high workload match-winner for England.
The commentator further wrote: “The long term is a different matter. With the full-time England captaincy comes expectancy, selection, ups and downs, and a lot of things that can weigh you down. So, I would be concerned about giving it to Ben permanently at some point down the line. I don’t think there’s anyone in world cricket who does as much as Ben Stokes. Maybe Virat Kohli but he doesn’t bowl. Stokes’ plate is full and when he does something there are never any half measures. Stokes has to do everything at a hundred miles per hour -- there is no other way for him.”
Hussain signed off by saying, “So, his workload is in the red zone without the mental strain of captaincy and history tells you if you give the job to your best all-rounder, the graph will go down the longer he does the job. The last thing England need is for Stokes to be affected by high office. Some players do not need an armband to lead and Stokes is one of them.”
(With Daily Mail Inputs)
