PTI
Adelaide, November 8
England all-rounder Ben Stokes is hopeful that his team’s bowling attack would be able to contain the rampaging Suryakumar Yadav in the T20 World Cup semifinal against India on Thursday.
Stokes is cautiously optimistic about his team’s chances against India. “Suryakumar obviously came in and set the world alight. He is a fantastic player and plays some shots where you are sort of just scratching the head sometimes,” said Stokes. “He is in great form, but hopefully, we can try and shut him down and not allow him to get on one of his rampages.”
Talking about Virat Kohli, Stokes said such a player can never be written off. “I think with Virat, he could have four unbelievable years like he had, and then have a not so loud couple of months and then for some reason plays like that and gets written off, we have got no idea why. I think he has earned the right to never be written off,” said Stokes.
“You don’t produce the numbers and produce the innings that he (Kohli) does in all three formats and it’s fine. We as players and people who play against him a lot, we never take anything he has done in the game before into the game we have got here,” said the England all-rounder.
Strong India
Stokes said his team reached the semifinals without “playing their best cricket”. “I think the way we have managed to get through not playing our best cricket so far and now we find ourselves here. So obviously it’s exciting,” he said. “But we know we need to get this game done on Thursday, against a very strong Indian team which no one will ever take lightly. This is because of the team they are and the players that they have in their squad. But we like to focus more on our squad and not think too much about them.”
Stokes didn’t want to read too much into opposition skipper Rohit Sharma’s lean run with the bat. “The likes of Rohit, they are world-class players. You can’t take (assume) anything from what he has performed in the previous game because you have seen him do it many a time,” said Stokes. “He is one of the best to play the game, especially in this format. We won’t be taking him lightly at all.”
Asked if spin bowling would play a big role in Adelaide under the floodlights, Stokes was non-committal. “I am pretty sure it will but how big a role, I don’t know,” he said.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
