Ben Stokes the best all-rounder in world across formats, states Aakash Chopra
Chopra has named Stokes the best all-rounder in the world
|Getty
Renowned pundit Aakash Chopra has picked England’s Ben Stokes, who hit an impeccable 176 on Friday versus the Windies, as the best all-rounder in world cricket across all formats. Chopra further named Shakib Al Hasan and Ravindra Jadeja as the second and third best all-rounders behind Stokes.
Ben Stokes has been untouchable since the turn of 2019 and having already made his mark in the World Cup and Ashes, the Englishman continued his extraordinary run on Friday. Having picked six wickets and scored two forty-plus scores in the first Test in Southampton, the all-rounder ensured to make it count in the second Test at Old Trafford versus the Windies and brought out his A-game to blast a flawless 176 on Day 2.
The knock took the 29-year-old’s batting average in the calendar year to an astonishing 66.75 and in wake of the southpaw’s extraordinary, sustained run, former Indian cricketer and now-renowned expert Aakash Chopra took the opportunity to label Stokes the best all-rounder in the world across formats. Chopra, in his YouTube channel, pointed to Stokes' remarkable numbers with both bat and ball in the last 18 months and said that he had no doubt in his mind that the New Zealand-born all-rounder was currently the best all-rounder in the world.
"At this point of time, there is no doubt in my mind that Ben Stokes is the number one all-rounder in the world across all three formats. He has an average of 43 in Tests, 59 in ODIs over the last two years," Aakash Chopra said on his Youtube channel, reported TOI.
"He has a good bowling average across all formats as well, there is no doubt that Stokes is the number one all-rounder in the world across all formats.”
In the same video, Chopra, meanwhile, named Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan and India’s Ravindra Jadeja as the second and the third best all-rounders in the world, respectively, behind Stokes. Stokes, who was man of the match in the 2019 World Cup final against New Zealand, is currently the second-best all-rounder in the world in Tests in the ICC rankings, with him (431) still 54 points behind Windies skipper Jason Holder. Last week, the southpaw skippered England for the first time in the side’s four-wicket defeat at the Ageas Bowl versus the Windies.
