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Crisis man Ben Stokes
MELBOURNE: By winning the T20 World Cup on Sunday, England became the first team to hold two ICC men’s World Cups as they are also the current 50-over World Cup champions having won in 2019 at Lord’s.
It was a deserved victory for Jos Buttler’s England over Pakistan. They were no doubt worthy winners for the following reasons:
These are some of the salient points that Sri Lanka can make use of for the future if they want to become a force in white ball cricket.
Seven years ago, England were nowhere close to being a white ball side that could offer a strong challenge to the other nations. For a long time, English cricket was seen as too reserved, too structured, very conservative while subcontinent teams were seen as full of daredevilry and innovation.
England were renowned for their high standards in Test cricket. But their white-ball transformation since 2015 has now turned into a legacy of silverware for the current generation. How well did England find replacements for their first-choice picks such as Jonny Bairstow, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Dawid Malan on the night of the final, and emerge winners.
“I think a lot has been made of the changes in white ball cricket in England and the journey the teams have been on. To have won in 2019 and now win this T20 World Cup, as well, it just shows the vision at the start that people had where we could get to as an England white ball team,” said England’s winning captain Jos Buttler.
“I think the perception of our team has changed a lot over the last few years. We’ve certainly not played it safe, and we’ve had results doing that. We know we’ve always tried to push the boundaries, tried to get ahead of the rest of the world and be braver than anyone else, and we’ll take what comes from that. We know we’ll slip up along the way, but we certainly trust that method and it’s served us well, and we trust it in big games, as well.”
“Since the Ireland game the way we’ve sort of showed great character, must-win games every point from then on, I think we’ve played our best cricket, and we’ve just got better and better.”
For Ben Stokes what a turnaround has it been for him in his career. Six years ago, at Eden Gardens, the fateful deciding over he bowled to Carlos Brathwaite saw four successive sixes soar into the night sky like fireworks. West Indies were crowned T20 world champions.
In 2019 when England beat New Zealand to win the 50-over World Cup at Lord’s, Eoin Morgan the England captain described Stokes as “superhuman” for his efforts in that final. And now once again on Sunday, Stokes was there to hit the winning run and take England home to another World Cup.
“He’s obviously never let that 2016 final sort of push him back, and you think of the things he’s gone on to achieve in his career since then is just amazing,” said Buttler. “He›s a true match winner, and he›s been there in those scenarios time and time again. He just has a lot of know-how for how to do that. He always stands up in the biggest moments. He’s a man who can take a lot of pressure on his shoulders and perform. With him in the middle you know you’ve got a good chance.”
“It certainly wasn’t his most fluent innings or probably didn’t time the ball as well as he can, but you knew he was never going to go down without a fight and stand up and be there at the end. We were immensely lucky to have him, and he’s one of the great players of English cricket.”
Buttler gave credit to the depth of bowling England has described as “amazing”.
“I think our bowling has improved no end, that’s why we’re sitting here as champions to be honest. Our bowling has improved fantastically well. Sam Curran has stepped up and been an absolute revelation. He’s a brilliant cricketer. He loves those crunch moments. He deserved Player of the Tournament for this, and we’re so proud to have him in our team.”
For Pakistan it was the second successive tournament where they had to finish as the bridesmaid. They lost the final of the Asia Cup to Sri Lanka, and now this.
“We are very proud to play for Pakistan. It is very sad when you can’t finish it. We couldn’t finish it in the Asia Cup too,” was how Babar Azam described his team’s loss.
Top performers in T20 World Cup 2022
Leading Batsmen (qualif. 200 runs)
Leading Bowlers (qualif. 10 wickets)
