Commemorating the last 12 months, one individual who inspired me is a heavily tattooed cricketer who came back strong in 2019 with heroics which others could not even fantasize about.
In the 2016 T20 world cup final at Eden Gardens Kolkata, he had to defend 19 runs in the final over for the English team to lift the world cup against the West Indies, but he ended up conceding 4 consecutive sixes which cost them the T20 world champions title.
Yes, even if you are not a cricket fanatic, if you follow cricket, you would have guessed the name right, it was Ben Stokes who was hit for 4 consecutive sixes by Carlos Brathwaite in the final over of world T20 final.
The dejection just didn’t end there , earlier last year he was involved in a fight outside a club, he was arrested for suspected bodily harm and the brawl video was watched over again and again by the cricketing world and cricket fans. He also broke his right hand in the conflict.
If you have missed watching the brawl, below is the video link. ( I am sure, no one would have missed it)
What followed was he was on court trail and he missed out on the Ashes that year punished by the English cricket board for his behavior
Cricketers take a break from the game due to mental fatigue and mental health concerns in this era, these two incidents would have dented the confidence of the all-rounder and deep down he would have known he has let himself and his team down.
But what followed was history created in the year 2019 and it was a year of redemption for Ben Stokes, At Lords, In the ODI world cup final, he batted all alone for England scoring the much-needed runs for his side in a nerve-wracking finale. It was one of the best and closest games till-date contested, even watching the highlights of the game makes me sweat till date. It was the moment of heroism where he showcased great courage and valor under immense pressure.
Chasing 242 runs for victory, the home team was struggling at 4/86 in 23.1 overs, Ben Stokes stitched on a 110 run partnership with Butler. Wickets started to stumble at one end, with 8 down, Ben Stokes was ready for the show with 15 runs to get in the final over, not to mention the weight of history he was carrying on his shoulders.
The first two balls resulted in dots, forcing the equation to 15 from 4 balls from Boult who was bowling splendidly. Next ball Stokes slog-swept an offside ball out of the park on the leg side which changed the whole complexion of the game. The very next ball resulted in a dramatic overthrow to the boundary, there were a couple of singles in the last two balls and Stokes single-handedly forced the world cup final to a super over scoring 84 not out of 98 deliveries.
In the super over, it was Ben Stokes again who along with Butler scored 15 runs of Boult’s over and England won the world cup on the merit of scoring more boundaries than the New Zealand team. Stokes scored 7 of those which includes 2 sixes.
He was awarded the man of the match in the world cup final which should have felt more comforting for Stokes, as he was confounded for the team’s loss in the 2016 T20 world cup final just a few years ago.
The act of redemption just didn’t end at Lords, heroics continued at Headingley during the 3rd Ashes match, on the 4th day of the test match against the mighty Aussie attack, England team was crumbling down chasing 359.
Ben Stokes started off slow in the most demanding format of the game scoring only 2 of the first 60 balls he faced and was hit by a bouncer on the head by Australian quick Hazlewood. England lost wickets at regular intervals on the other side there was a slight ray of hope partnership between Stokes and Bairstow.
At one stage of the game, England team was at 286 for 9 with the Aussies requiring just a wicket to win the match, Stokes has scored 61 runs with only one man left at other-end.
Stokes counterattacked the Aussie bowlers hitting 8 sixes and 11 boundaries and stitched on a 76 run last-wicket stand along with Jack Leach, not to mention in the partnership Leach scored only one run. To me, this innings was one of the greatest of all time in the test match history winning the most unlikely win in an Ashes test match.
In this era of cricket, we talk more of fab 4 players Kohli, Williamson, Smith and Joe Root but to me, its the all-rounder Benjamin Stokes who is the most impactful player. 2019 will go down as one the most heroic come back in the gentleman’s game by Stokes.
I hope this inspires !!! Nothing is permanent, times change just face the situation with courage and valor. When it’s dark “do the next right thing at that moment and continue doing it one moment after another”
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