Ben Stokes decided it was enough waiting for the first ball in eight months. Wickets were hard to come by in Dharamsala and despite no nod from the team's physio, Stokes felt he needed to lead from the front and bowl a few overs. Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill's partnership had already pushed England on back foot on day 2 of the fifth and last Test. England were desperate for a breakthrough and not many had expected that Stokes would provide that so soon.
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The first delivery in 251 days from Stokes landed outside off at good length. It held its line before shaping away ever-so-slightly to hit the off. Rohit could not do much about it. That was a peach from one of cricket's greatest all-rounders. Rohit had a smile on his face as he walked back. He knew he had been done by an excellent delivery and he needed not regret the dismissal.
Stokes was happy but he stopped himself from celebrating it in an animated way. However, his teammates were maybe impressed. Mark Wood had his hand off his head and a big shock on his face. Stokes bowled the first ball in 251 days and it worked. It cleaned up a batter who had faced over 160 deliveries and never looked like getting out.
The social media was soon abuzz with reactions to Stokes. While many hailed Stokes for being a great leader and risking his injury to come and deliver the goods, many went on to call the delivery the best in the series. BCC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew went on to compare Stokes first-ball wicket to that Ian Botham's first-ball wicket after he came back from 63-day drugs suspension.
“Ben Stokes provided an Ian Botham moment of scene-stealing drama to announce his return…,” wrote Telegraph's Nick Hoult.
Stokes, who is going through a lean patch as batsman, began to get massive praise for this one ball. This was not appreciated by many Indian fans on social media, who reminded the world that Bumrah had bowled a screamer to Ollie Pope not long ago. Another Twitter user and a fan said that sports website talkSport called Stokes' delivery to Rohit as the ball of the series. That user ranted, “Last piece of rant for today..TalkSport called Stokes ball as the best ball of the series. I mean..Bumrah literally had stokes cleaned up in Hyderabad and then Pope in Vizag. These are just two of so many I can put across here. This is beyond delusion..this is clownery.”
Check some reactions to Stokes receiving praise for this delivery to Rohit below:
Last piece of rant for today..TalkSport called Stokes ball as the best ball of the series.
I mean..Bumrah literally had stokes cleaned up in Hyderabad and then Pope in Vizag. These are just two of so many I can put across here.
This is beyond delusion..this is clownery — Anuj Nitin Prabhu (@APTalksCricket) March 8, 2024
IND bowler delivers a world class spell, runs through the middle of the ENG order Press: Bazball blah blah blah
Ben Stokes bowls 5 Ok overs and gets one ball to misbehave off the pitch
Press: THE GREATEST BALL OF THE SERIES! WHO WRITES HIS SCRIPTS!
— cricketingview (@cricketingview) March 8, 2024
Man for this insane PR Ben Stokes deserves the National Creator award Modiji… https://t.co/PUDigPjc5n — Varun (@wizardrincewind) March 9, 2024
India are in a commanding position in the fifth Test, leading by over 255 runs on the morning of Day 3. The hosts are already leading 3-1 in the series and a 4-1 result looks almost certain now.