Ben Stokes might have been grabbing the attention for smashing his maiden T20 century in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League but the England all-rounder has said that one of the biggest gains that he has got from the league is working with a specialist T20 bowling coach (Eric Simmons) which has helped him to bowl a good line and length on a consistent basis.
And the impact of working with a bowling coach has totally reflected in Stokes’ performance with the ball as he has managed to do really well in the tournament where the pacers rarely do well on the flat pitches. So far, he has taken seven wickets in 9 matches including the Man-of-the Match performance against Royal Challengers Bangalore when his 3 for 18 in four overs helped the Supergiant to defend 161. Another notable performance from him came during the match against Mumbai Indians when he conceded just seven runs in 19th over which helped his team to win the match by 3 runs.
“One of the biggest things that I’ll be able to say that I’ve taken away from here is working with a Twenty20 bowling coach – whose sole focus is on that,” Stokes told Sky Sports after his team’s four-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders.
“It’s very, very simple; he’s really helped me and my consistency with my areas is probably as good as it has ever been, which obviously I’ll be able to take back into the Champions Trophy. Every training session out here you learn something new and being around the guys – MS Dhoni, Steve Smith is only a good thing,” added Stokes.
Stokes, who is playing his first IPL, further expressed his delight over playing in arguably the biggest and the most lucrative cricket league in the world.
“I can’t express how good this experience has been to everyone back home and you’ll hear exactly the same from the other English guys out here,” said the Englishman who was bought for a whopping INR 14.5 crore by the Supergiant.
Stokes also heaped praise on Supergiant’s opening sensation Rahul Tripathi. The Maharashtra cricketer was not picked in the team in the first two matches but made an immediate impact when he was asked to open the innings in the fourth match, scoring 33 off just 17 balls against Gujarat Lions. He followed it up with scores of 31, 59, 45, 38, 37 in his next five matches. A rare failure followed when he was run-out for 6 against Gujarat Lions but made amends for it with a blistering match-winning 93-run knock against Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday (May 3).
“Tripathi didn’t play the first couple of games but he really impressed in all the warm-up games and in the nets he just looks a million dollars. He’s going to be a superstar, I think. He’s proved when he’s come in, he’s performed in every single game and you can just tell from the shots that he plays that he’s got some serious talent. I think he can only go further and I don’t think it will be long until we see him in an India shirt,” Stokes added.
Speaking about his match-winning 103-run knock against Gujarat Lions, Stokes said:“It was a good opportunity to get in and try to construct an innings. The most pleasing thing was playing that way when the team was under pressure; we knew how much we needed to win that game to keep ourselves in with a good chance of reaching the finals.”
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 to steer his team home 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.