‘Grumpy old man’ Ben Stokes apologises to teammates for frustration in Multan Test

England captain Ben Stokes revealed he apologised to his teammates for showcasing his frustration on the field on Day 3 of their second Test against Pakistan in Multan. Stokes was seen losing his cool after England slip fielders, including Joe Root, put down simple catches that proved decisive in the end as the tourists lost the second Test by 152 runs.

Ben Stokes was seen using the F-word on the field when Salman Ali Agha was put down twice in an over from fast bowler Brydon Carse. Wicketkeeper Jamie Smith and Root put down a catch each. Salman got reprieves when he was batting in single-digits. The middle-order batter made 63 crucial runs, pushing Pakistan’s second-innings lead to 296 runs.

PAK vs ENG 2nd Test, Day 4: Scorecard | Highlights

England could have chased less in the final innings had they been tidier on the field. As expected, the dry surface in Multan helped Pakistan spinner Sajid Khan and Noman Ali as they ran through the England batting order, bowling the visitors out for 144.

With Sajid and Noman picking up all 20 wickets between them, Pakistan ended a nearly four-year wait for a Test match win at home and levelled the ongoing series against England.

“No one means to drop catches but it just proves how important catches are in these sub-continent conditions, they don’t come along that often. I actually apologised to the group last night as it’s the first time in my captaincy that I’ve let my emotions and how I was feeling with the way the game was unfolding show in my body language,” Stokes told the broadcasters.

“I owned up to that and was very annoyed at myself for letting that out. It’s something that I don’t want to do or be seen to be doing so I apologised to the group about that.

“Poor old me, I was a tired grumpy old man last night! You won’t see that happen again,” he added.

It was England’s first defeat in Pakistan in their last two tours. Under Stokes, England had blanked Pakistan 3-0. While Stokes was away due to a niggle in the first Test of the ongoing series, Ollie Pope led England to a sensational win. Pakistan had posted 556 in their first innings and England, riding on Harry Brook’s triple hundred and Joe Root’s double hundred, posted 823 in their first innings and went on to win the Test by an innings and 47 runs.

Pakistan made bold calls, dropping Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah from their squad for the second and third Tests. They also rescued the pitch for the Multan Test, backing their spin-bowling strength after bringing in Noman Ali, Sajid Khan and Zahid Mahmood.

Kamran Ghulam, who replaced Babar Azam, hit a hundred, while Noman and Sajid made sure England’s weaknesses against spin on a dry pitch was exposed.

The third Test between the two sides will be played in Rawalpindi from October 24.