BEN’S No1 PRIORITY
Stokes out to douse agitator Kohli
BEN STOKES does not care whether Virat Kohli is a model of diplomacy or a spiky agitator – as long as England see the back of him cheaply.
The India captain has morphed from a sportsmanlike opponent who helped Joe Root deal with cramp in the first Test to the firebrand who gave Jos Buttler an ugly send-off in the T20 decider – and then called into question the spirit in which England played the game.
But when Stokes was asked which version of Kohli he prefers, the World Cup-winning all-rounder laughed: “I prefer the Virat that doesn’t get runs. That would be nice.”
England must win today’s second ODI in Pune to stop India claiming a clean sweep of the Test, T20 and one-day series.
And they will lose their No1 world ranking in the 50-over format if India complete a 3-0 whitewash, a prospect enhanced by Kohli’s four dashing half-centuries in his past six white-ball innings.
The more Kohli has argued with umpires, tried to get under England’s skin or stood his ground in disbelief after being clean bowled by Moeen Ali, the more India have prevailed.
But Stokes, who played his first one-day international after a “crazy” 619-day gap since the World Cup final in Tuesday’s 66-run defeat, is neither concerned about England losing their No1 crown in the short term nor Kohli’s excitable conduct.
He said: “We’ve deserved to be No1 because of our results and the way we’ve played our cricket – and we won’t go away from that. Being No1 in the world is fantastic, but our driving force is the way we go about it, staying true to ourselves and our attitude towards playing the game.
“It’s amazing how quickly time can pass, but it was great to be back out on the field with the boys in this format.”
Stokes, who will link up with Indian Premier League franchise Rajasthan Royals next month, is already resigned to spending the first half of 2021 mainly confined to bio-secure bubble life.
And he admits the routine has made him lose track of time. He said: “I don’t even know what day of the week it is or what month it is. We’ve found a way of getting through it, but it’s tough going from cricket ground to hotel day in, day out. But there are a lot of people much worse off than us.”
Stokes’ move up the order to replace the absent Root at No3 was not an instant success in the first ODI.
He added: “I did message Rooty and asked him about his mindset at No3, and he just told me, ‘Play the way you play’. It’s just a slightly different role, where you might face maybe 100 balls compared to 60 or 70.”