ricky ponting ms dhoni qualities in ben stokes match-winning ability

London: Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has compared Ben Stokes’ match-winning abilities to India legend MS Dhoni, considered the best finisher in the modern game. He believes that the England captain plays better under pressure than his current contemporaries. During the second Ashes Test against Australia at Lord’s, Stokes almost single-handedly took his team to victory with a brilliant century, which included a record-breaking nine sixes. It was not the first time that Stokes had terrorized Australia. Kiya Ho, the flamboyant all-rounder had put in a similar performance during the 2019 Ashes series in England when he scored an unbeaten 135 to help England secure a remarkable one-wicket win over Australia. Ponting said, ‘I think any international player is under pressure whenever he walks out to play, but Ben batting in the middle order or down the order probably finds himself winning more matches than some others. Finds in an opportunity situation.

‘First thing that comes to mind,’ Ponting said in the latest episode of The ICC Review. He is probably someone like Dhoni, who stays at the end in many T20 matches and finishes off the game, while Benn does it at the end of Test matches. Many players in the history of the game have found themselves in that kind of role and end up winning matches, especially as a captain.

Ponting also revealed that Stokes’ match-winning innings at Headingley on the final day at Lord’s four years ago was still in his mind and was relieved when Australia finally made a breakthrough and bowled him out for 155. ‘I thought and probably everyone thought he could do it again because we’ve seen it happen before, but it was probably a bit more runs they were chasing (in 2019).’

Stokes averages just above 36 with the bat at Test level and just over 32 with the ball, Ponting admits the star all-rounder has a remarkable ability to affect the game at a level that doesn’t do justice to those modest figures. Does “Over the years we have really judged cricketers by their numbers and their stats, what their average is and how many wickets they have taken. If you look at Ben Stokes only in that light, it doesn’t do him full credit. Ponting said, “He is a player who averages 35 (36) with the bat and 32 with the ball.”

So these numbers alone don’t put him in the top class of players. But when you see him play like he did (at Lord’s) and do some of the things that he’s done for this team over a long period of time, then we’ve got to find better ways of measuring cricketers that How he affects games, how many games he can actually win because he is an absolute match-winner, that’s for sure.

Stokes was a match-winner for England with a restrained half-century against Pakistan in the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup last year and Ponting is impressed with his ability to handle pressure and be able to adjust his game accordingly.

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