Ollie Pope hails contribution of ‘Headingley hero’ Ben Stokes ahead of skipper’s 100th Test

Rajkot (Gujarat) [India]: England batter Ollie Pope hailed Test skipper Ben Stokes for the impact he has had on the game as the team gears up for the ‘Headingley hero’s’ 100th Test in Rajkot.

England will square off in the third Test against India of the five-match series on Thursday which will mark Stokes’s 100th Test.

Stokes has been a revelation since taking the captaincy role in 2022 and has won 14 out of 21 Tests. He has a win percentage of 66.67 and no one has a better ratio than him who has captained England on 10 or more occasions.

Pope heaped praises for Stokes ahead of the monumental achievement and said as quoted from Sky Sports, “It’s unbelievable. For anyone to play 100 Tests is an unbelievable achievement. He’s had his highs and lows but what he’s done since he’s been captain has been amazing. Stokesy is not someone who likes it being all about him. He doesn’t need those accolades but away from the ground I’m sure we’ll celebrate him, get around him and think of something to do.”

“He’s changed the game in a lot of respects. He just has a way of bringing out the best in himself when the team needs him the most. There have been so many unbelievable memories and hopefully he can play 100 more. He’s been great to watch and hopefully there’ll be many more special moments in his career,” Pope added.

Stokes will become the 16th English cricketer to earn 100 Test caps and will join the likes of James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Sir Alastair Cook, Joe Root, Alec Stewart, Ian Bell, Graham Gooch, David Gower, Michael Atherton, Colin Cowdrey, Sir Geoff Boycott, Kevin Pietersen, Lord Ian Botham, Sir Andrew Strauss and Graham Thorpe.

Stokes has amassed 6,251 runs at an average of 36.34, has 197 wickets to his name and is three away from reaching 200 wickets.
He has 13 Test tons to his name and four five-wicket hauls. Only eleven cricketers have scored more than Stokes’s tally of 258 (198) against South Africa in 2016. He has a record for the fastest double century and the fastest score of 250-plus in Test history for England.