"Fully confident that I'll be able to get more out of myself this week than I did last week"- Ben Stokes ready for greater bowling role in 3rd Test
England captain Ben Stokes expressed confidence over playing a bigger role with the ball in the third and final Test against Pakistan at Rawalpindi, starting October 24. Stokes sustained a hamstring injury during the 2024 Hundred, resulting in his absence for four Tests until the first Pakistan Test.
However, he returned in the second Test and bowled five overs in each innings of England's 152-run defeat. With Pakistan prospering on a spin-friendly wicket in the second Test, indications are that a similar pitch will be on offer in the decider.
It has forced England to pick three specialist spinners in the XI with Gus Atkinson and Ben Stokes as the only pace-bowling options.
Speaking to the media two days before the start of the final Test, Stokes was quoted as saying by BBC:
"It was good to get through it. I have put myself through my paces at training, bowled two spells. Coming in and being one of only two seamers, I'm fully confident that I'll be able to get more out of myself this week than I did last week."
After playing the first Test with Shoaib Bashir and Jack Leach as the spin options, England included leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed for the decider.
Stokes spoke glowingly about what Rehan has to offer to the side by saying:
"Leg-spinners have an amazing ability to break a game open. Having his batting ability lower down the order is also a massive bonus. The way Leach and Bashir have bowled has been fantastic in these first two Tests. Adding Rehan's free spirit and desperation to change the game every time he's got the ball in his hand is a massive bonus for us this week."
Rehan has played four Tests for England, with the last one coming during the India tour earlier this year.
"I've never been a groundsman, but you'd think a rake would assist the spin" - Ben Stokes
Ben Stokes felt the Rawalpindi pitch for the series decided had been raked to produce a turning wicket but not had no objections around it.
Pakistan had not won a home Test since February 2021 until the second Test at Multan on a spin-friendly track. The spin duo of Noman Ali and Sajid Khan picked up all 20 wickets, making the first instance of two bowlers bagging all the wickets since 1972.
"I've never been a groundsman, but you'd think a rake would assist the spin. We can have a good guess which ends the Pakistan spinners will operate from. There's not too much grass to hold everything together. It will be interesting to see how it goes. It will be a pretty good wicket for the first couple of days, at least," Stokes said in the same interaction.
England have lost only one Test series under Stokes - in India earlier this year - and won 3-0 in Pakistan in their previous tour in 2022.