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Australia great identifies 'main man' for India in battle against England's Ben Stokes
Shane Watson said that while dismissing Ben Stokes was always important when playing against England, it gains even more significant now since the all-rounder is now their captain.
England showed their firepower during their 3-0 win over New Zealand and this has now made them favourites in their upcoming postponed fifth Test against India. Newly appointed captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum seem to have got England to take a radically different approach to batting, with an emphasis on being aggressive.
While Stokes was not prolific with the bat himself during the series against New Zealand, he is known to be a player who can play the waiting game before switching gears with ease which makes him one of the most important wickets in the England lineup. Former Australia Shane Watson said that he is interested to see how Stokes tackles ace India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, if the latter does get to play in the match which starts on Friday at Edgbaston.
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"The battle that I am really looking forward to is Ashwin and Ben Stokes. Ashwin has had his measure a lot over his career. But now also there is more importance on Ben Stokes' wicket, even more so than ever because he is captain," said Watson in a video on the International Cricket Council's (ICC) website.
Watson said that the fact that Stokes is now the captain makes his wicket even more valuable. "In the Australian cricket team, it's always like if we can work over the captain and try and make it a really not so good series for them, then the ship can start to sink a little bit. Ashwin is going to be the main man to try and make the most of that battle. He does match up incredibly well," he said.
With Ravindra Jadeja's spot in the squad all but cemented, it remains to be seen whether India pick Ashwin for the fifth Test. India had not picked the ace spinner in any of the matches during the previous four Tests of the series that were played in 2021. However, the visitors go into this Test with an entirely new management staff and so the possibility of them thinking differently and playing Ashwin remains open.
