England captain Ben Stokes got rid of KL Rahul within an hour on day five of the fourth Test against Team India at the Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester. Notably, the seam-bowling all-rounder celebrating even without looking back at the umpire's signal after trapping KL Rahul lbw, ten runs short of his hundred.
The dismissal occurred in Stokes' fourth over and the 71st of the innings as the England captain brought one back viciously to the right-hander. Despite being set, the right-handed batter missed the ball and the ball hit on the pad in front of the middle and leg stump. Rahul also walked off without a review, realizing that taking it would be futile.
The Durham all-rounder had claimed a five-wicket haul in the first innings at Old Trafford, his first since September 2017 when the veteran did so against the West Indies. Additionally, he also scored a hundred, clattering his first in the format since 2023.
"We are still hopeful he will be better tomorrow" - Marcus Trescothick on Ben Stokes
At the end of day four, England's batting coach Marcus Trescothick hinted that the skipper will be able to bowl on the final day, having not rolled his arms on day four at all. He told the BBC Test Match Special:
"We are still hopeful he will be better tomorrow and come back out, be a bit looser and ready to go again. We will assess it overnight and see what happens."
Ex-England captain Michael Vaughan opined that Stokes is an extremely vital cog in their bowling unit.
"We'll wait and see. Ben is a super-human at times. He was probably hoping today that they would get the wickets and he wasn't going to be required. It doesn't half tell you how important he is to the attack."
At the end of writing this, the tourists were still trailing by 117 runs.
