Former England captain Kevin Pietersen while commentating on air for Sky Sports, said that Stokes is devaluing his wicket which is not a good thing.
England captain Ben Stokes failed to score big and was dismissed by Shardul Thakur after he had scored just 25.
“Test match hundreds are valuable commodities, they mean a hell of a lot because of the stress, tension, patience and discipline that goes into them. That devaluing of his wicket is something I think may not be a good thing,” Pietersen said on air.
Stokes had smashed Shardul Thakur’s delivery, but Jasprit Bumrah dived to his left to take a stunning catch. Stokes scored 25 off 36 balls with the help of 4 fours.
“I would tell Ben that he doesn’t need to try and prove a point by being ultra-aggressive. The bowler needs to be bowling his best deliveries in order to get Stokes out. At the moment, I see Stokes trying to command authority by running at bowlers,” said Pietersen.
“He doesn’t need to lose his head and slog the ball up into the air when England are in strife. Stokes can stand still and do what Bairstow is doing. I wouldn’t tell him at all not to go after the bowlers but please stand still. He is too good a player to be doing what he is doing,” he added.
