ICC World Cup 2019: Ben Stokes on England’s favourite tag, impact of Virat Kohli, Steve Smith

Playing in their own conditions, the stakes are pretty high for Eoin Morgan’s men and all-rounder Ben Stokes believes that the side has earned the tag after a string of impressive performances all along the way.

England, the number one ranked side in the world in the 50-over format, smashed home the point that they will be the team to beat in the upcoming World Cup as they were ruthless against Pakistan in the just-concluded series. Playing in their own conditions, the stakes are pretty high for Eoin Morgan’s men and all-rounder Ben Stokes believes that the side has earned the tag after a string of impressive performances all along the way. (Complete coverage of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019)

File image of Ben Stokes (AFP)

“I think we have earned the right to be favourites with the cricket that we have played in the last three or four years. Being world no.1 you will always come into the tournament as favourites. If India or Australia were the no.1 ranked team, they would come into the tournament as favourites. But we cannot take the no.1 tag into the tournament if we want to win it because as you saw during the Champions Trophy (2017) that we were playing great cricket and then we got onto a wicket against Pakistan which wasn’t suited to our style and suited them more. But we have learnt from that and we are more capable to adapt to situations now than we were back then. We are a much better team now because we are able to read situations better,” Stokes told IANS.

The once in four years extravaganza also brings with it an opportunity to see the best in the business clash against each other as they chase ultimate glory. Talking of the best, two players who will be really looking to make it count are India skipper Virat Kohli and former Australia skipper Steve Smith.

While Kohli’s form will be crucial for India to stay true to their favourites tag, Smith will want to use this event to once again show the world what it missed out on for the last 12 months as he served a ban after the Sandpaper Gate. For Stokes, it is about watching two high-class performers weaving their magic on the fans.

“They are both phenomenal players and have played quite a bit against both of them. You watch them play and they make the game look a lot more easier than others do. So, I am a massive fan of both the players. They have both got their own styles and they are both different in the way they play, but they are both very very effective. You obviously play against guys to win, but at the end of the day you got to look at it from an angle that I love cricket and I love watching both Virat and Steve go about doing their jobs so consistently,” he confessed.

(With IANS inputs)