Ben Stokes and Virat Kohli
While backing England all-rounder Ben Stokes to captain in the Windies Test series opener in the absence of regukar skipper Joe Root. former England captain Nasser Hussain opined that Stokes has similar characteristics as that of Indian skipper Virat Kohli.
Root is slated to miss the first Test against West Indies scheduled to take place at the Ageas Bowl on July 8 as he and his wife are expecting their child.
Root has hence backed vice-captain Stokes to lead the side in his absence. And even while a few veterans have disliked the idea with the opinion that Stokes should always remain England's de-facto skipper and the captaincy responsibility will only become a burden for the talented cricketer, Hussain feels Stokes will turn out to be a good captain while comparing him with Kohli.
"He [Stokes] is a fighter of a character,” Hussain said. “He thinks from every situation, you can win that game, and we have seen that at Headingley, we have seen that at the World Cup. He has very similar characteristics to Kohli, to be honest. He wants to win," Hussain said while speaking Sony Ten’s Pit Stop show.
"I think he would make a very good captain. The only problem with that is, I would say, in England, sometimes we have made our best cricketers and our all-rounder’s captains, whether it be [Ian] Botham or whoever. Sometimes, it doesn’t sit when you’ve got so much on your plate," Hussain added.
"And Ben is a leader in that dressing room anyway. People look at Stokes, even if he is vice-captain and go, ‘What’s Ben doing? How would Ben do this?’ I like it the way it is at the moment Joe [Root]’s captain, Ben is your vice-captain. There are leaders that don’t need the arm-band and I think Ben Stokes is one of those. But I think on a short-term basis, Ben Stokes in a one-off game at the Ageas Bowl, or maybe a couple of games, I think he would stand in and do a very good job," Hussain concluded.
Earlier this week, Root had spoke on similar lines saying that he sees shades of Kohli in Stokes and that as a skipper the all-rounder will set a good example.
