Australia Great's "Smart Leader" Praise For Ben Stokes Ahead Of 3rd Test Against India

Former Australian cricketer Ian Chappell lauded England skipper Ben Stokes for his captaincy in the first two Tests of the five-match series against India, saying that his aggressive approach and attitude has given the team success and plenty of self-belief to youngsters. Chappell said that Stokes' leadership has made sure that the five-match series between both rivals is level at 1-1 and still wide open. Chappell said that England's great belief in Stokes shows on and off the field both and lauded England's approach of continuously looking for wickets.

"Ben Stokes' aggressive approach to captaincy may have failed to claim victory in a hard-fought second Test but the five-match series against India is still wide open at 1-1. Much of England's success has been attributed to Bazball - the desire to score quickly and tactically rattle the opposition - but this is a misnomer. What Stokes has really done is set out to achieve victory from ball one by playing aggressive cricket in all aspects of the game," said Chappell while writing for ESPNCricinfo.

"Stokes has been extremely smart to adopt such an approach and his aggressive tactics have brought England great success in the win column. It's an approach that England was extremely slow to adopt but Stokes has shown himself to be a strong-minded and smart leader," he added.

He also said that Stokes' captaincy has given the team belief that helps them produce something extra to gain some vital success on field, like a game-changing run-out by Stokes of Ravindra Jadeja, which shifted the game in England's favour and made India succumb to a 28-run loss.

"The England team has great belief in Stokes and it shows both on and off the field. The team takes wickets because they are