'Fighter' Ben Stokes Has Very Similar Characteristics To Virat Kohli: Nasser Hussain

Former England captain Nasser Hussain feels that Ben Stokes has very similar characteristics to India skipper Virat Kohli. Nasser Hussain said both Stokes and Kohli are driven by their desire to win. His comments have come as Stokes is gearing up to lead England in the upcoming Test series against West Indies.

Regular captain Joe Root is likely to miss a better part of the series in order to be with his pregnant wife. Interestingly, Root also sees a shade of Kohli in Stokes and feels the flamboyant allrounder will lead by example like the Indian skipper

“He [Stokes] is a fighter of a character,” Nasser Hussain said. “He thinks from every situation, you can win that game, and we have seen that at Headingley, we have seen that at the World Cup. He has very similar characteristics to Kohli, to be honest. He wants to win,” he further said while speaking Sony Ten’s Pit Stop show.

Ben Stokes has firmly established himself as one of the best players in world cricket. He had a stunning 2019 where he helped England win their first-ever World Cup and draw the Ashes. The allrounder produced a stunning performance throughout the World Cup, helping England win the trophy at home. He scored 465 runs with the help of five fifties including one in the final against New Zealand.

Nasser Hussain also said he feels Stokes would be a good captain. But at the same time, he made sure to point out the history of English cricket’s wrong choices of captains. Traditionally, allrounders have not done well as captains in England. The likes of Ian Botham and Andrew Flintoff could not make much of a mark with their captaincy skills.

“I think he would make a very good captain. The only problem with that is, I would say, in England, sometimes we have made our best cricketers and our all-rounder’s captains, whether it be [Ian] Botham or whoever. Sometimes, it doesn’t sit when you’ve got so much on your plate,” Nasser Hussain said.

“And Ben is a leader in that dressing room anyway. People look at Stokes, even if he is vice-captain and go, ‘What’s Ben doing? How would Ben do this?’ I like it the way it is at the moment Joe [Root]’s captain, Ben is your vice-captain. There are leaders that don’t need the arm-band and I think Ben Stokes is one of those. But I think on a short-term basis, Ben Stokes in a one-off game at the Ageas Bowl, or maybe a couple of games, I think he would stand in and do a very good job,” he concluded.

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