I was panicking when Ben Stokes continued with long spells at Lord’s: Joe Root

Former England captain Joe Root has stated that he was panicked, seeing skipper Ben Stokes delivering long spells during the Lord’s Test against India, which propelled them to a 22-run win to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match Test series. 

Stokes, who recently returned to professional cricket after a hamstring tear injury, bowled a total of 44 overs in the Lord’s Test, scalping five important wickets and winning the player of the match award.

Moving into the details, Stokes bowled a tireless spell of 9.2 overs in the morning session of the fifth and final day of the Lord’s Test and another 10 overs in the afternoon session. Eventually, head coach Brendon McCullum had to send Tim Southee to inform the captain to take a break.

Root, who was speaking to BBC, said that Stokes doesn’t listen to him even when he was captain of the side. However, the No.4 batter hailed the skipper’s incredible effort, which turned in their favor.

"He doesn't always listen to me. He didn't listen to me when I was captain,” Root told BBC.

"But, no, he knows what he's doing and he's got a good handle on where he's at physically. It was an incredible effort,” he said.

Furthermore, Root asserted that Stokes is just desperate to make things happen, and he was panicking to see him bowl long spells as he had a hamstring tear injury scare when he was batting in the first innings.

"He's just desperate to be the man and make things happen. Incredible effort to be able to do that. I was just panicking that he wasn't going to make it through the game after a couple of bad injuries, but he clearly trusts his body now,” he added.

"It's a great sign for us moving forward. I mean it really is isn't it, because that's back to his best,” he concluded.

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