“Don’t see aggressive captaincy”- Aakash Chopra targets Ben Stokes over poor bowling tactics in the Vizag Test

Reputed commentator Aakash Chopra has attacked Ben Stokes over his poor bowling tactics in the recent IND vs ENG 2nd Test in Visakhapatnam. Aakash Chopra also added that he doesn’t see any aggressive captaincy in Ben Stokes in the bowling department.

Ben Stokes is the skipper of England in the ongoing IND vs ENG Test series. While he led the team to victory in the 1st Test, they lost the 2nd Test by 106 runs. Moreover, India also set up a mammoth target of 399 runs in the 2nd Test in Vizag.

Notably, England failed to outplay India batters while bowling. Yashasvi Jaiswal managed to slam a double ton in the 1st innings while Shubman Gill scored a century in the 2nd innings. On the other hand, Indian bowlers did a wonderful job by allowing only one batter Zak Crawley to reach half-centuries in both innings.

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I don’t see any aggressive captaincy in Ben Stokes: Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra fired shots at Ben Stokes on his YouTube channel. Chopra targeted Ben Stokes for his poor tactics with bowling in IND vs ENG 2nd Test. Chopra also added that his captaincy was not aggressive at all while bowling.

“Do they (England) follow the Bazball approach in bowling as well? They keep slightly innovative fields at times. That is interesting, I like that because it forces you to think repeatedly. However, beyond that, I don’t see any aggressive captaincy,” Aakash Chopra said.

“With his field placements and usage of his bowlers, the captaincy is not at all aggressive. On the first day, he didn’t use Rehan Ahmed for the first 60 overs. He forgot that he had a leg-spinner”.

“He picked up wickets in the end as well but you didn’t get him to bowl. Ben Stokes’ cult has become so big that I don’t see the whispers in the English media that someone criticizes him for doing something wrong. He forgot Shoaib Bashir in the second innings,” the 45-year-old further added.

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It was a tactical failure that you played only one fast bowler: Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra, who played 10 Tests for India in 2004-05, also criticized Ben Stokes for picking just one pacer in the IND vs ENG 2nd Test. James Anderson was the only pacer that England inducted into the playing 11.

“In fact, a huge tactical blunder was that you didn’t play two fast bowlers. This pitch was screaming that you should play two fast bowlers but you didn’t play them. You said you would go with one only.”

“You even said that you could go with an all-spin attack. That is a failure to read the pitch. A failure should be called what it is because it was a tactical failure that you played only one fast bowler and you felt the absence of another fast bowler,” Chopra said.

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Notably, India played two pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mukesh Kumar in the 2nd Test. Bumrah also hunted 6 wickets in the 1st innings and 3 wickets in the 2nd innings to win the player of the match award in the match.