Ben Stokes
Ben Stokes (Credits: IPL/BCCI)

England star Ben Stokes recently raised a number of eyebrows with his comments for Australia star David Warner. In his new book, the Rajasthan Royals allrounder claimed that Warner’s sledging motivated him during his remarkable Headingley innings in the third Ashes Test this year. Stokes’s unbeaten 135, during which he was dropped at slip by Warner, led England to a record run chase and one-wicket win to square the five-match series at 1-1.

In the chase of an England record 359, Stokes’ innings also included a 76-run stand with last man Jack Leach. Stokes’ knock helped England keep their dreams of regaining the Ashes alive. But the series eventually ended on 2-2 and Australia retained the urn. It was the first time since 2001 that Australia left England with the urn.

“He just wouldn’t shut up for most of my time out there,” Stokes said of Warner, in his new book ‘On Fire’.

“I had extra personal motivation due to some things that were said to me out on the field on the evening of day three when I was trying to get through to stumps,” he added.

Ben Stokes
Ben Stokes (Credits: Twitter)

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Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad engage in banter:

The recent turn of events due to Stokes’ comments saw Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad engage in a banter on Twitter. It all started when Royals took to Twitter to post about Stokes’ book. And in order to make their tweet more interesting, they posted a collage of Stokes and Warner’s images, tweeting:

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“@benstokes38’s book should be an interesting read…… ?” before adding: “Can’t wait to read the book @benstokes38! ??Ordered your copy yet, @SunRisers? ?”

But Sunrisers Hyderabad were having none of it and hit back at the Royals quickly. The Hyderabad-based franchise reminded Royals of Warner’s brilliant record in IPL, writing:

“Why don’t you gift it to @davidwarner31 when he gets his 4th orange cap in #IPL2020?”

The Sunrisers then extended the conversation by cheekily stating that they would request Stuart Broad to put himself in the auction. Broad had made life difficult for Warner in this year’s auction. The England pacer removed Warner for three straight ducks across the Headingley and Old Trafford Tests as Warner managed only 95 runs from ten innings. Overall, Broad had dismissed Broad on seven out of ten occasions in the series.

But Sunrisers had the last laugh in the exchange as they posted a photo of their former player Yuvraj Singh, stating that Royals are forgetting about him. Yuvraj had famously hit Broad for six sixes in the 2007 T20 World Cup.

 

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