England assistant coach Graham Thorpe on Monday said Ben Stokes should not forget that he has the ability to put bowlers on the back foot as he tried to play down the star all-rounder’s apparent struggles against seasoned Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
Stokes was dismissed thrice by Ashwin in the first two Tests in Chennai. The power-hitter was, in fact, stifled quite remarkably by the local favourite in the second game.
When asked about Ashwin’s command on Stokes, Thorpe said, “It is a challenge. Ben actually has at times different styles of playing. He can build into an innings as well.
“I think Ben also has that ability to put a bowler on the back foot as well, that is something which he certainly should not forget.”
Thorpe also hinted that all players including Zak Crawley, who was ruled out of the first Two tests due to an injury, are available for selection.
“He (Crawley) is looking fit and I think we have probably got a full complement of players to pick from, so he (Crawley) will be certainly in the mix, and his injury seems to have healed for me, watching him in the nets,” said Thorpe.
The assistant coach also said that the seamers could have more impact in the day-night Test despite the track being expected to favour slower bowlers.
“It is possible, I mean without looking into it, the crystal ball, but I would imagine that the ball generally does swing more under the lights,” he reckoned.
“They (India) don’t have a huge database of pink ball cricket in India, maybe the second one, so looking forward to it, it is a fantastic stadium. We have prepared as well as we can,” he added.