Stokes apologizes to England team for outburst during Pakistan Test
England captain Ben Stokes has apologized for his show of frustration on the third day of the second Test against Pakistan in Multan. The match started to sway in Pakistan's favor after a string of dropped catches and fielding blunders from England. Stokes said he acted like a "tired and grumpy old man," when he reprimanded his players during a critical phase of Pakistan's second innings. Here's more.
Stokes's outburst followed fielding errors
The incident happened during a fiery spell of reverse-swing bowling by Brydon Carse, who had just sent Mohammad Rizwan back for the third time in the series. England's hopes of restricting Pakistan to a sub-150 seconds-innings total were dashed when they dropped two catches off Carse's bowling. The first miss was by Jamie Smith behind the stumps with Salman Agha on 4, and the second by Joe Root at first slip when Salman was on 6.
Stokes apologizes for showing frustration
Stokes's outburst was triggered when Jack Leach fumbled at point to concede an unnecessary single in Carse's next over. Although this was uncharacteristic of Stokes, who has promoted a blame-free environment during his two-and-a-half year captaincy, he felt the need to apologize to his team. "I actually apologized to the group up there last night," Stokes said after the match. "It's the first time in my captaincy that I've let my emotions show in my body language."
Stokes admits to being 'tired and grumpy'
Further, Stokes admitted his disappointment in himself for letting his emotions get the better of him. He stressed it's something he doesn't want to repeat or be seen doing. "No one means to drop catches, but it just proves how important catches are out in these subcontinent conditions," he added. "So I apologized to the group and said that was poor of me."
McCullum attributes Stokes's frustration to his passion
Meanwhile, England's head coach Brendon McCullum was surprised by Stokes's need to address the issue but said his frustration stemmed from the passion that defines him. He praised Stokes for his determination in recovering from a significant hamstring injury within nine weeks. "I was a bit surprised, but we all know how passionate Ben is," McCullum told Sky Sports. "We've seen that through his bloody-mindedness to get back from the injury."
Pakistan earn crucial win over England, level series
Pakistan overcame England in the 2nd Test match held in Multan. After suffering a telling defeat in the previous Test, the hosts showed a lot of character to get the job done this time. Day 4 saw England resume on 36/2, needing another 261 runs to win. However, Pakistan bowlers did an able job. Pakistan bowled all of their 33.3 overs with spin duo of Noman Ali and Sajid Khan in the 4th innings. Noman claimed 8/46 against England (144/10).
