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Former England captain Michael Vaughan has questioned Three Lions captain Ben Stokes’ readiness for the five-match Test series against India, which is set to begin tomorrow at Leeds.
While speaking with an English news outlet, Vaughan expressed his amusement over Ben Stokes’ lack of match practice ahead of a packed summer.
“I’ve been staggered by the lack of time in the middle that Ben’s had as a batter. He didn’t have a great year last year when he got his injuries,” Vaughan said.
He also questioned England’s skipper’s absence from the Lions’ practice game against India A.
‘A Scottie Scheffler or a footballer going into a major event would be playing. He’s had no game time. Why wouldn’t you want to play for England Lions just for a knock, not to bowl?
He was bowling against Zimbabwe, and clearly he’s fine, but why wouldn’t you just want a bit of time in the middle? Call me old school, but I think it’s quite nice to go out and hit a few balls,” he added.
The 50-year-old hailed Ben Stokes as an intelligent captain, deeming him a vital cog in England’s chances down under.
“England can only win in Australia with him, and that’s him being the all-rounder. If he goes to Australia just as the batter, that completely breaks the balance of the team and as much as he’s a genius captain, the team are 30-40 per cent better when he bowls. To win in Australia, he has to be bowling and batting well,” he concluded.
For the unversed, Ben Stokes returned for the first time after knee surgery, playing against Zimbabwe in a one-off historic Test.
The all-rounder did not have a good outing with the bat, scoring only nine runs; however, Stokes was impressive with the ball, taking three wickets in the match.
READ: Major blow for India as key player likely to miss first Test against England
