England assistant coach Paul Collingwood has backed all-rounder Ben Stokes to deliver for them in the high-pressure business end at T20 World Cup 2022. Collingwood played down concerns surrounding Stokes’s form in Australia, saying the Test captain is just a knock away from returning to form in the shortest format of the game.
Stokes has been one of the finest all-rounders going around with exemplary success in Tests and ODIs. However, his T20I numbers have been far from impressive, having scored just 483 runs in 39 runs at an average of less than 20. At the T20 World Cup, Stokes hasn’t been able to put bat to ball, managing just 8 runs in 2 matches. Stokes has scored 41 runs in 5 matches in T20Is in 2022 and his place in the T20I side which is filled with proven big-hitters, has come into question.
However, Stokes has had the backing of the management and their captain Jos Buttler. Despite not having played enough T20Is in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup and the all-rounder has been finding a place in the XI.
“Yeah, of course. I guess the one person that you want in your team when the pressure is on is Ben Stokes. We all know what he’s capable of, and not just match-winning innings, but match-winning innings under serious amounts of pressure,” Collingwood told the press on the eve of England’s big-ticket Super 12 match against New Zealand at the Brisbane.
“I know well that if it comes down to the crunch, you want a man like Ben Stokes walking out. Not just what he gives with the bat, the options with the ball, and the skill level he brings into the field, as well. You’ve got to remember, he’s an allrounder, so it’s not always just the runs that he makes, but it’s everything else that he gives.
“But I’m pretty confident there’s an innings just around the corner, and now we’re coming into the crucial part of the World Cup, and it’s almost a knockout stage for us.
“It’s must-win games. You always see Ben come to the fore in those situations.”
