“It was almost written in the stars” - Jeetan Patel on Ben Stokes’ jaffa to Rohit Sharma
England assistant coach Jeetan Patel reckons Ben Stokes’ peach to clean up Rohit Sharma on Day 2 of the Dharamsala Test was ‘almost written in the stars’.
Describing the England captain as a freak, Patel said that it was nice to see him back with the ball in hand but added that the team would continue to tread with caution.
After England went wicketless in the first session on Day 2 in Dharamsala on Friday, March 8, Stokes came on to bowl after lunch. The all-rounder had not sent down a single delivery in a Test since Ashes 2023.
However, he produced a peach first ball to knock over his opposite number. Stokes got the delivery to seam away a touch from a good length and dislodged Rohit's off stump.
After the end of the second day’s play, Patel reflected on the amazing dismissal that stunned not only Rohit but Stokes’ teammates on the field as well.
"He's (Stokes) a freak. It was almost written in the stars that he was going to bowl a jaffa first up and get Rohit Sharma out who was on 100. We all know how we can round our attack out, especially in conditions like these where you've usually got two spinners, two seamers and then you want your third in Stokesy," Patel was quoted as saying by PTI.
"It was nice to see him back at the crease, but we've just got to be careful we don't push him too far, it's still early days for him. I'm sure he'll rest up tonight, get some ice on it and see where it fronts tomorrow (Saturday)," the former Kiwi spinner added.
Stokes had stopped bowling post the Ashes due to a knee injury and underwent surgery for it last year.
“That's the beauty of having unscarred players in the team” - Patel on Shoaib Bashir’s effort
Young England off-spinner Shoaib Bashir was struggling with a stomach bug heading into the game. However, he did not let it affect him, as he starred for the visitors with three wickets on Day 2 in Dharamsala.
"That's the beauty of having unscarred players in the team. That's a tough day for Bash or anyone playing Test cricket. But he hasn't had the scars, and that's exciting to have because he bowls the next ball with energy whether it's gone for four, six, dot, wicket, it doesn't matter," Patel said in praise of the youngster.
"That's the most pleasing thing. We spoke about it this morning 'why not just show off, what does it matter? It's the last Test. You're not going to play for another six weeks, at least, it's a great chance to show the world the skills you have got," he added.
Bashir got the wickets of Devdutt Padikkal (65), Sarfaraz Khan (56) and Dhruv Jurel (15) on Friday. He had dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal (57) on Day 1.