Ben Stokes Approaches 100th Test: Astonishing Stat Reveals His Experience Surpasses Entire Indian Batting Lineup

Ben Stokes Approaches 100th Test: Astonishing Stat Reveals His Experience Surpasses Entire Indian Batting Lineup

Ben Stokes will play his 100th match in the format when England plays India on Thursday at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot in an attempt to retake the lead in the five-match Test series. He will rank fifteenth for England and seventy-sixth overall when he accomplishes this amazing milestone the traditional manner. The most recent player to reach the milestone is Joe Root, a former captain of England. He accomplished it in February 2021 after a sensational double century in an Indian Test match.

Since making his debut during the Australian Ashes series in 2013–14, Stokes has participated in 99 Test matches.He has made 105 catches, claimed 197 wickets, and amassed 6251 runs over that period. There are only two players in Test cricket who have ever outperformed Stokes in all three categories, and they are the legendary Garry Sobers and Jacques Kallis. Furthermore, in their Test careers worldwide, only these three cricket players have amassed over 6000 runs and claimed over 150 wickets. The most shocking fact about Stokes, though, coming into the third Test match of the series against India, is that he has more experience in the format than the whole home team’s batting lineup, which will play in Rajkot on Thursday.

With 56 Test cricket matches under his belt, India skipper Rohit Sharma is still the most seasoned batsman in a lineup that does not include injured KL Rahul or former captain Virat Kohli. With 22 appearances, young Shubman Gill is ranked second on the list, followed by wicketkeeper KS Bharat with seven, Yashasvi Jaiswal with six, and Rajat Patidar with just one, having made his debut in the second Test against England in Visakhapatnam.Not to mention, Sarfaraz Khan and Devdutt Padikkal could receive their first cap on Thursday in place of Shreyas Iyer, who was left off of the Indian team after the first two games. That comes to a total of 92 Test matches played, which is even fewer than the number of games Stokes has played in thus far.

Also Read: Unmukt Chand: The Stark Reality Behind the Career of a Former India U-19 Captain

The England team, which traveled from Abu Dhabi after a brief mid-tour break after the Vizag game, overcame another visa difficulty in Rajkot on Monday evening and started practicing for the third Test. Thanks to Ollie Pope’s outstanding 196-run innings, they had won the first match of the series in Hyderabad last month by a margin of 28 runs. But India recovered to tie the series at 1-1 with a decisive 106-run victory in the second Test.