Ben Stokes Apologizes for His Outburst

England captain Ben Stokes has apologized to his team for a moment of frustration on the third evening of the second Test against Pakistan in Multan.

With the game slipping away from England’s grasp due to dropped catches and fielding mistakes, Stokes admitted to losing his cool during a critical phase of Pakistan’s second innings.

Back in the squad after a nine-week absence due to a hamstring injury, Stokes said that he felt like a “tired and grumpy old man” as he let his emotions spill out while Brydon Carse was bowling. Carse had just removed Mohammad Rizwan to give England hope of restricting Pakistan to under 150 in their second innings. However, two dropped catches within three balls – first by Jamie Smith off Salman Agha and then by Joe Root – shifted the momentum.

Salman went on to score a crucial 63 from 89 balls to take the game out of the visitors’ grasp.

When Jack Leach fumbled at a point shortly after, Ben Stokes let out a roar of frustration, a rare sight from a generally disciplined captain.

“I apologized to the group last night,” Stokes said. “It’s the first time in my captaincy that I let my emotions show like that. No one means to drop catches, and it’s just a reminder of how important they are, especially in these conditions. I was tired and grumpy, but it won’t happen again.”

England’s head coach Brendon McCullum defended Ben Stokes, acknowledging that the 31-year-old reaction likely stemmed from frustration over the game’s rhythm, not anger at the players. 

The visitors will have the chance to redeem themselves when they take on Pakistan in the deciding test from October 24th onwards.