'He's trying to send a message to his team': Former England captain defends Ben Stokes' batting style vs India

England were bundled out for 286 in the second innings by India in the rescheduled fifth Test Match at Edgbaston. Jonny Bairstow was the star of the show with a well-made 106, but all the other England batters failed to make an impression as the Indian bowlers ran riot on the Three Lions batting order.

England skipper Ben Stokes too couldn't stay long at the crease. The left-hander scored 25 runs off 36 balls with four fours in his innings. He was given two lifelines in his innings when Shardul Thakur and Jasprit Bumrah dropped two relatively easy catches. However, he couldn't capitalise on the mistakes as Bumrah took a splendid catch of Shardul Thakur's delivery to get the England captain out.

After initially playing cautiously in the first part of his innings, Stokes started to show aggression, keeping in line with the new mindset of the team under Brendon McCullum. With some experts including Kevin Pietersen calling this approach rash, former England captain Nasser Hussain has defended Stokes.

"Ben Stokes is trying to set a tone for England, he's trying to send a message to his team that, in doubt, they can take the positive attacking approach. So, I understand why he is batting like this, unlike Kevin Pietersen, who feels that he should bat like Ben Stokes, who is a very sensible cricketer," said Hussain, in an interaction with Sky Sports.

"Remember the knock in Headingley, he had one run off 62 and then he smashed Australia everywhere," he added.

Hussain was also quick to praise Jonny Bairstow for his counterattacking century. "Jonny Bairstow is in the form of his life. He epitomises what McCullum and Stokes want, positive, but not reckless batting. There has been no reckless batting from Bairstow this summer, he has been brilliant," he said.

Nasser Hussain also stated that if India can post a target in excess of 300, they will have the upper hand over England to win the game. "With all the rain we have had, it's only like a day two pitch at the moment, so I think spin will come into play. So, if India can get that lead above 300, then they have the battery of fast bowlers, then they have also got Jadeja bowling on a fourth day, fifth-day pitch," said the former England captain.