Even if his strikes have left him scratching his head in astonishment, England all-rounder Ben Stokes is confident that his bowling attack can restrict the rampaging Suryakumar Yadav in the T20 World Cup semi-final against India. He also lavished praise on Indian great Virat Kohli, whom he believes has "earned the right to never be written off." England's finest all-rounder feels bullish about his team's chances in Thursday's major semi-final.
"Obviously, Suryakumar came in and lit the world on fire." He is a superb golfer who makes some shots that leave you scratching your head. He's in excellent shape, but maybe we'll be able to shut him down and prevent him from getting on.one of his rampages," Stokes, who has been brilliant with the ball, told reporters at an England & Wales Cricket Board event.
Speaking about Kohli, with whom Stokes has had a healthy rivalry over the years, the Durham man was astounded that a player of his stature could be cast off so simply during a downhill spiral.
"I suppose Virat could have four incredible years like he had, and then have a quiet few of months, and then for some reason plays like that and is written off, we don't know why." I believe he has earned the right to be written off." In terms of Kohli, his statistics speak for themselves.Stokes explained.
"You don't put up the stats or innings that he (Kohli) does in all three forms, and that's good." "As players and individuals who have played against him a lot, we never take whatever he has done in the past game into the game we have today," Stokes said.
'We're up against a really powerful Indian team.'
Stokes agreed that England had reached the semi-finals despite not "played their best cricket" thus far, but that would not be the case on a big day against a good Indian squad.
"I believe it's the manner we've managed to get here despite not playing our greatest cricket so far." So it's clearly exciting. But we know we have to."Get this game done on Thursday against a very tough Indian squad that no one should ever underestimate," Stokes stated.
"This is due to the team they are and the players they have on their roster." But we want to concentrate on our team rather than on them." In reality, he didn't want to overreact to opposing captain Rohit Sharma's shaky batting performance.
"People like Rohit are world-class players." You can't take (assume) anything from what he did in the last game since you've seen him do it before (in big games)."He is one of the top players in the game, particularly in this format." We're not going to take him lightly."
Stokes was noncommittal when asked if spin will play a significant role in Adelaide under floodlights. "I'm quite confident it will, but I'm not sure how large a part it will play." the best way play the game, especially in this format. We're not going to take him lightly."
Stokes was noncommittal when asked if spin will play a significant role in Adelaide under floodlights. "I'm quite confident it will, but I'm not sure how large a part it will play." the best way play the game, especially in this format. We're not going to take him lightly."
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