England captain Ben Stokes expressed disappointment over his run-out in the second innings of the second Test against India in Visakhapatnam. Shreyas Iyer affected Stokes’ (11) run out with a direct hit, and the dismissal proved to be crucial in the context of the match, which India eventually won by 106 runs. Ben Foakes defended Ashwin’s delivery, but it went to square leg after the ball inside-edged onto the pads. Foakes and Stokes decided to steal a single but the latter seemed casual while running to the striker’s end.
Iyer sensed the opportunity of a possible run out as he picked the ball and affected a direct hit. The replays showed that Stokes’ bat was a few inches behind the popping crease.
Stokes departed for 11 off 29 balls, with England crumbling to 220/7 while chasing 399.
Reflecting on his run out, Stokes revealed that he wanted to run faster but couldn’t do so, labelling his dismissal as “stupid”.
“I was trying to describe it in the dressing room, it was like one of those dreams where you’re trying to run faster but you can’t,” Stokes said in the post-match press conference.
“I knew I had to go faster but for some reason, I just couldn’t, it was a really bizarre couple of seconds. You’d think by now at 32 I’d learn not to do that, it’s not the first time I’ve been run out doing something stupid. I always seem to do something that’s a talking point, good or bad, don’t I,” he added.
Stokes said his team remained “level-headed” on Monday despite losing to India in the second Test.
“Being 2-0 up would have been great for us, but that’s the great thing about a five-match series, it’s the end of the series where everything counts,” Stokes told reporters.
“We’re a very level-headed team and that allows us to put things behind us, move on to the next thing and concentrate there.”
The third Test starts February 15 in Rajkot and the teams will take a break beforehand, with England flying to the United Arab Emirates for the week.
(With AFP Inputs)
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