IND vs ENG 2022 | Ben Stokes was trying to send a message to his team, opines Nasser Hussain

India are in a comfortable position after the end of the third day of the one-off Test. England were wrapped up 284 in the first innings on the third day of the play. At the start of the day, Ben Stokes started playing with an aggressive approach. Stokes handed opportunities of his dismissal to the Indian team by mistiming the aerial shots but Shardul Thakur and Jasprit Bumrah dropped his catches. However, Stokes played an aerial shot to Shardul Thakur on 25 runs and Bumrah picked a stunning catch. 

Reflecting on his dismissal, Hussain stated that Stokes was trying to send a message to the team to take a positive approach while batting. 

"Ben Stokes is trying to set a tone for England, he's trying to send a message to his team that, in doubt, they can take the positive attacking approach. So, I understand why he is batting like this, unlike Kevin Pietersen, who feels that he should bat like Ben Stokes, who is a very sensible cricketer,” Hussain stated to Sky Sports.

"Remember the knock in Headingley, he had one run off 62 and then he smashed Australia everywhere," Hussain stated.

After hitting two tons in the series against New Zealand Jonny Bairstow has continued his purple patch against India as well, After struggling for the initial phase of the innings, Bairstow scored a century after settling at the crease. His knock helped the team go past the 250-run mark. Hussain praised the wicketkeeper-batter saying he was positive in his innings but didn’t play recklessly. 

"Jonny Bairstow is in the form of his life. He epitomises what McCullum and Stokes want, positive, but not reckless batting. There has been no reckless batting from Bairstow this summer, he has been brilliant," he stated.