India v England: Ben Stokes' bowling a faint silver lining to tourists' day in the dirt
- Published
Ben Stokes dismissed India captain Rohit Sharma with his first ball of the series
Ben Stokes owes the England physio a beer.
The captain promised Ben Davies he would not bowl on the tour of India. Stokes' idea of making amends for breaking that promise was to get the drinks in. Now he has to come through.
To criticise Stokes' scriptwriter for coming up with something fanciful would be wildly unfair. Stokes being Stokes, the events of the second day of the fifth Test against India in Dharamsala were entirely predictable. You could easily write it. You could see it coming a mile away.
Some 251 days after he last bowled in a match, following 28 consecutive wickets falling to spin in the series, in which time 248.2 overs had been delivered, Stokes needed just one ball to show England what they had been missing.`
With his opposite number Rohit Sharma on 103, Stokes grabbed the ball for the second over after lunch. The inwardly arcing run-up was just the same, and after eight months between spells Stokes did not need a loosener. A perfect delivery angled in, nipped past Rohit's outside edge and kissed the off stump.
Zak Crawley covered his mouth in disbelief. Brendon McCullum shook his head. The bemused Rohit dragged himself back to the pavilion.
But Stokes couldn't celebrate. Even by Stokesian levels of comebacks, the game was already gone. England were experiencing their first truly hopeless day in a country that often provides touring teams with plenty of them.
The visitors were being made to pay for only mustering 218 with the bat, India more than doubling that in reaching 473-8 by the end of the second day. Mark Wood went at six an over and James Anderson's hunt for a 700th Test wicket is starting to feel like the search for Atlantis.
Young spinners Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley did well to halt India late on, but by then Bashir had tied the record number of sixes - eight - an England spinner has been hit for in a Test innings, while Hartley's boundary fielding had the solidity of wet toilet paper.
All of India's top five passed 50. Rohit and Shubman Gill made centuries. Either side of Stokes bowling Rohit, India scored at 4.3 runs per over in the morning session, then 4.7 in the afternoon.
England are not the first team to wilt at the end of a tour of India. It is the hardest challenge in cricket, possibly in all of sport.
India tests the technique, plays with the mind and examines the soul. England started by winning the first Test, the so-called Heist of Hyderabad, but are ending with a drubbing in Dharamsala. India slowly marinated the tourists over wins in Visakhapatnam, Rajkot and Ranchi. On Friday they finally put them on the barbecue.
If there is the faintest silver lining to a Test played among the clouds, Stokes' bowling is it. His left knee is the most important body part in British sport since David Beckham's metatarsal. It couldn't get through the Ashes and Stokes didn't even try to push it at the World Cup.
When he finally opted for surgery in November, he described it as a "clearout". In reality, it was bone spurs removed and stitches put in the meniscus. A clearout Kim and Aggie would be proud of.
Rehab started even before the operation. Stokes slimmed down to lower the pressure on his knee and aid the recovery process. Even then, it wasn't just about getting his knee in good shape, but also reconditioning his body to perform an incredibly unnatural manoeuvre.
He said before the second Test that any bowling in training was only the first step on the road to being an all-rounder again by the home summer.
Stokes was adamant about his "pinky promise" to Davies when he spoke before the third Test, only to not rule out competitive bowling by the time the match ended. He bowled at full tilt in the nets before the fourth Test in Ranchi and declared his knee to be pain free for the first time in years, only to not take the ball on the field for tactical reasons.
Even before the final Test, Stokes tried to bluff us by saying England's team was picked on the assumption he wouldn't be bowling. But, here he was, on a sun-kissed afternoon in the Himalayas, warming up at lunch because the match situation demanded his presence.
There were some high-knees and swings of the arms as he fielded at mid-off in the first over after the break, and then Stokes was bowling for the first time since the second Ashes Test at Lord's in July.
Some 38 years after another great England all-rounder, Ian Botham, took a wicket with his first delivery back - in Botham's case after a drugs ban - Stokes matched the instant impact.
It was sporting theatre. Anderson, ineffective before lunch, was suddenly rejuvenated and bowled Gill - his 699th Test scalp. An England fightback seemed possible just because Stokes was involved. The scoreboard said India were ahead, but that mattered little in the compelling hour in which Stokes sent down five overs.
His pace was good, around 85mph. Stokes dropped a return catch off Sarfaraz Khan from what turned out to be a no-ball. The skipper had not bowled himself until the 62nd over of the innings. One wondered what might have happened had he been on 30 overs sooner.
Only when Stokes came off did the scoring carnage resume. He did not bowl again for the rest of the day. Even Stokes, the mad dog that he is, is sensible enough to know he is feeling his way back, and marathon spells of 10, 15 or even more overs are beyond him just yet.
For now, the joy is in the sight of what once might never have been seen again. Stokes moved to 198 wickets, only two away from joining bona fide greats Jacques Kallis and Sir Garfield Sobers in doing the Test double of 200 wickets and 6,000 runs.
As captain, Stokes is adamant that England have made progress on this tour. It is a harder argument to make if and probably when they are beaten 4-1.
What is inarguable is the return of Stokes the bowler makes England a stronger team, giving options and balance that have been lacking for what feels like an age.
Bowling makes Stokes whole as a cricketer once more. Perhaps it will rejuvenate the batting of a man who has made only one half-century in his past 11 innings. Like giving Superman his cape back.
England's day in the Dharamsala dirt was as hard as anything they have endured on this tour of India and will almost certainly lead to a final chastening defeat.
But it will be remembered for the return of some Stokes magic, hinting at a possible brighter future to come.