Rajasthan Royals coach recalls lasting memory of Ben Stokes from IPL

Ben Stokes, the man who pulled off a heist in Headingley has been hogging all the headlines and rightly so. After Steve Smith’s resilience, and Jofra Archer’s brilliance, the Ashes was also a witness to an absolute maverick in Ben Stokes and his brilliance. So much has been said and written about the man that the entire narrative come the next Test will revolve around him and how he pulls up after the historic knock at Leeds.

Behind the excellence of the man and his steely temperament, there is a process, there is training and there are hours which are spent trying to hone the craft. Former Mumbai batsman and currently, the batting coach of Rajasthan Royals, Amol Mazumdar has said that when he was working with Stokes during the IPL, he was blown away with the way the left-hander trained.

“We spent a lot of time together this IPL season. I’ve seen many cricketers, but I’ve never seen anyone working as hard at his game than Stokes. His work ethics are unbelievable. When a player has that kind of a work ethic, the job of a coach becomes much easier,” Muzumdar told Times of India.

Mazumdar further added that Stokes puts himself to the limit during the training session, even during the tight schedules of the Indian Premier League.

“He would bat for a couple of hours in the nets. There would be times when he would tell me to keep throwing the ball at him, which I didn’t mind! In every training session, he would request me to ‘push’ him a bit harder. After that, he would bowl for around 45 minutes, and that too at full tilt. There’s nothing called a ‘half-hearted’ effort with Stokes. either he’s there, or you will not find him. In the end, he would practice his fielding skills, and that too for an hour! In fielding sessions too, if you gave him an easy catch, he wouldn’t appreciate it!” Muzumdar said.