Rising Pune Supergiant’s leg-spinner Adam Zampa has hailed his teammate Ben Stokes as the hardest hitter of the cricket ball he has ever seen.
The England all-rounder, who is the costliest overseas player in the history of the Indian Premier League, justified his huge price tag with a maiden Twenty20 century to guide the Supergiant to a stunning 5-wicket win over Gujarat Lions on Monday (May 1).
Steve Smith’s men were reeling at 10 for three when Stokes came out to bat. However, the hard-hitting Englishman took the onus on himself and smashed a brilliant unbeaten 103 off 63 balls, as his side chased down 161 with a ball to spare.
His knock included seven fours and six sixes and it also made him only the second ever player from England after Kevin Pietersen to score a century in the IPL.
The highly-rated all-rounder has already made a big name for himself in the game and the latest to get impressed by his exploits with the bat is Adam Zampa.
The young Australian leg-spinner has shared the dressing room with the likes of MS Dhoni, David Warner, Glenn Maxwell but rates Stokes as the hardest hitter.
“The first few net sessions here I actually couldn’t believe how hard and far he hit the ball,” Zampa told cricket.com.au. “He hits it harder than anyone I’ve ever seen to be fair. It can be scary bowling to him in the nets. It’s just power. You feel like you beat him in the air, spinning away with a wrong’un and he just powers it.”
“I’ve never seen someone consistently blow up as much even if he gets out for 50 or 60 or mishits one in the nets. He loves a blow-up and is definitely a bit of a competitor,” he added.
What makes Stokes’s knock against the Lions even more remarkable is that he had to fight through cramps which required treatment out in the middle prior to the last over. Moreover, he had also missed the previous two games owing to a shoulder injury.
Zampa also spoke about the England star’s off the field character.
“He’s a great lad. He’s one of the blokes who tries to make everyone laugh on the WhatsApp group, a bit like myself. He’s pretty funny but I’m probably more successful at making them laugh. He’s a very good bloke,” the leggie said.
Zampa further said that Stokes has shown the way to the England team on how to perform in the upcoming Champions Trophy at home where they will be under pressure to lift the trophy for the first time. Under Eoin Morgan, the Three Lions have become a force to reckon with in the limited-overs format and they would be keen to go one step further than their runners-up finish in the last Champions Trophy in 2013.
“I think (England) will be fine,” Zampa said. “They’ve got a great young team. Being around someone like Ben Stokes, if there’s any weight of expectancy it’s when you get $2m in the IPL and the way that he’s performed for Pune, if that goes to show anything for the rest of their team I’m pretty sure they’ll be nice and relaxed and nothing will weigh them down too much.”