Lamb lauds Stokes for instilling belief in England team

Ben Stokes led from the front as England went on to register one of its most thrilling wins against India in recent times at Lord’s. As things got tough and India tried its best to seize the initiative, Stokes extracted every bit from his team-mates and ensured the side put up a spirited show to secure a crucial lead in the five-match series.

Former England captain Allan Lamb believes that while England has slowly realised it’s important to adopt the horses for courses approach, instead of getting into Bazball mode every time, it’s Stokes, who has instilled that belief and a positive mindset in the dressing room.

“When it comes to even chasing 180 on the last day, it is still a big thing in the mind, especially with India losing those wickets the night before. The pressure was always on India. Stokes had motivated the team. I think everything came down to Stokes, because the night before, he was so fired up. He wanted to bowl as he was fired up. And, he got his whole team behind him,” Lamb told The Hindu.

“They are a team that believes they can win anything. That brought a real positive approach to it…”

Moving on from its Bazball approach, wherein England would invariably ask the opposition to bat first and then chase down a target, the team decided to bat first, and that proved crucial. “Everyone thinks that England is going to play Bazball. But now, they’ve learned when the wicket is not right for the Bazball
approach, they have to get in. I don’t think it was a great wicket at Lord’s. It was the right wicket to bat first. It was very difficult to score runs,” he said.

And, England eventually managed to win the Lord’s Test. While his captaincy has impressed Lamb, he wants to wait before passing a judgment on whether Stokes is one of the finest skippers to have led England. “It’s a little bit early, but his approach is great,” he said.