Ben Stokes’ claims of Indian cricket stars not showing enough intent against the Englishmen in the 2019 World Cup were echoed by former Pakistan cricketer Sikander Bakht. The all-rounder and England’s hero of their first World Cup winning campaign, responded to the same saying Bakht twisted his words.
What Stokes’ book reads
Ben Stokes in his book, The Fire, wrote, “Arguably, the way MS Dhoni played when he came in with 112 runs needed from 11 overs was even stranger. He appeared more intent on singles than sixes. Even with a dozen balls remaining, India could still have won.” He added, “…there was little or no intent from him (Dhoni) or his partner Kedar Jadhav. To me, while victory is still possible you always go for broke.”
He shared his thoughts about the skipper Virat Kohli and the vice-captain Rohit Sharma as well. Stokes wrote, “The way Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli played was mystifying. I know that we bowled brilliantly well during this period, but the way they went about their batting just seemed bizarre.”
Bakht’s claim suspended by Stokes
Pakistan’s former cricketer Sikander Bakht took to Twitter and referring to Stokes’ book claimed that it was a conspiracy to remove Pakistan from the tournament and India deliberately lost the match. He referred to the disturbing relationship between two neighbouring and wrote, “Ben Stokes writes in his book that India lost to England deliberately to remove Pakistan from world Cup 19 and we predicted it. Pakistan India relationship.”
When a Twitterati asked about the part in the book where Stokes mentioned about India losing to England deliberately, Stokes replied that he never wrote the same and Bakht was just twisting his words mentioned in the book. Stokes answered to the fan’s question saying, “You won’t find it cause I have never said it… it’s called “twisting of words” or “click bait”.
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