How Ben Stokes produced the greatest all-round Test of his life

Telegraph

6 days ago

Even after just two innings of this match, when an injury cloud gathered over his involvement in its remainder, Ben Stokes had done what he never had in 115 previous Tests by scoring a century and taking a five-wicket haul.
His celebrations told a tale. The first, for his first five-wicket haul in eight years, was a sheepish raise of the ball. He has been the best bowler on either side in this series, but it had been a very long time between drinks.
Two days later, Stokes was celebrating his first Test hundred for more than two years. In many ways, that had been a more worrying barren run, his longest between tons in Tests. The emotion was exhausted relief. He slowly looked to the sky and shaped his fingers to honour his late father, Ged, as he took time to soak up the adoration of the Old Trafford crowd.
5-wicket haul with the ball
Century with the bat
Top wicket-taker in the series
THE CAPTAIN – BEN STOKES LEADING FROM THE FRONT AGAINST INDIA! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Lwlr6chz4s
— junaiz (@Cricjunaizdaily) July 26, 2025
Late in a knackering series, it had been an exhausting innings, featuring a break for cramp the afternoon before. Stokes was so exhausted that he would not bowl in the evening session.
Stokes's double is rare. Only three Englishmen have done it before: Tony Greig, Ian Botham (five times!), and the slightly incongruous Gus Atkinson, against Sri Lanka last summer. None of them did it at captain. To add further statistical substance, Stokes passed 7,000 Test runs. Only Garfield Sobers and Jacques Kallis have that many as well as 200 Test wickets.
Ben Stokes, who brought up 7,000 Test runs during his 141 against India, is also only the third player to combine that milestone with 200 Test wickets 👏 #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/ygHQQzPGdt
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) July 26, 2025
Before this, Stokes had not even taken five wickets across both innings in any of the 13 matches he scored a hundred, and he had never had an innings of more than 60 in the four Tests he had taken a five-fer.
His great all-round Tests have been defined by clutch contributions with bat and ball, such as Lord's last week, when he was named man of the match for the 11th time for 77 runs, five wickets, the vital run out of Rishabh Pant and his calm captaincy.
Clearly, Stokes has had more dramatic, dynamic impacts on Tests – think his epic spell at Headingley before his 135 not out – but this is already his greatest all-round match, statistically at least.
For much of those two years, since his last hundred (at Lord's against Australia after Jonny Bairstow's stumping), Stokes's batting has been painful, with an average below 30 and severe struggles against spin. Managing his body to allow him to bowl at full tilt denied him time at the crease to build rhythm.
It has also physically knackered him, as the need to briefly retire hurt on the third afternoon showed. Returning at the fall of the seventh wicket, and then arriving early for a massage, a bowl, and a net on the fourth day, Stokes managed the situation smartly in the knowledge that England's route to victory in this game was piling on runs so the team batted just once.
𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒅. pic.twitter.com/j7QALylAH5
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 26, 2025
For all that he lacked match practise, he has looked a little better with each innings. That is not to say this was Stokes at his fluent best – far from it. He was workmanlike and rugged, in the image of the team he is trying to build.
With the bat, Stokes has always been the standard-bearer for this team. In the early days, he swung for the hills, looking to install a no-fear attitude, and encouraged Bairstow to hit every ball for six. Now, his modus operandi is more ruthless.
Stokes struggled in the nineties, and the four with which he reached his hundred, turned round the corner to fine leg, was just his ninth, and only after reaching the milestone did he take any risks, launching the spinners down the ground. Eventually, that proved his downfall as he was caught at long-on.
He walked off with a huge patch of dirt down his front, from diving for his ground, a neat emblem for a grafter's innings. Runs for him represent a final piece in the jigsaw for this batting lineup; every member of the top seven now has a century this summer. His innings ensured that this, at 157 overs, was England's longest of the Bazball era.
Straight out of the manual!
Ben Stokes with that textbook elegance 🔥 #INDvsENG #BenStokes pic.twitter.com/TlmGzTHYkM
— MindSportsMarvel (@MSportsMarvel) July 26, 2025
Stokes's inability to bowl in the third innings was a reminder that he is 34 and, for all that he is better at managing his body now, the mental and physical workload he has had in this series takes a huge amount of him.
The legacy of Stokes's Test will be defined by its final day. As special as a century and five-wicket haul are, for the player himself, that contribution will mean little if the team do not win. If they are to, they surely need Stokes to lift himself off the canvas once more and add to the wickets column.