Ben Stokes, England reach full circle in T20 World Cup 2022 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground

Melbourne, November 14: Ben Stokes let out an almighty scream after slamming Mohammad Wasim through mid-wicket for a single. The run sealed England’s 5-wicket win over Pakistan and their title win in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022.

As much as it was about asserting England’s stand as a great white ball team, it was also about the redemption of Stokes.

Of course, the all-rounder had guided England to a 50-over World Cup triumph in 2019, the scars from 2016 T20 World Cup might have been hurting secretly. After all, conceding four sixes in an over when the victory was sealed could have been too heavy for any player.

But six years down the line, the England all-rounder also their Test captain found a way to heal the last vestiges of those scars at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

England skipper Jos Buttler underlined that fact, the coming full circle of Stokes.

“He always stands up in the biggest moments. He's a man who can take a lot of pressure on his shoulders and perform, and yeah, absolutely with him in the middle you know you've got a good chance.

“Yeah, just so proud of him, pleased for him that he's stood up and done it again,” said Buttler in the post-match press conference.

“He's a true match winner, and he's been there in those scenarios time and time again. He just has a lot of know-how for how to do that.

“I think it certainly wasn't his most fluent innings or probably didn't time the ball as well as he can, but you knew he was never going to go down without a fight and stand up and be there at the end.

“Yeah, we were immensely lucky to have him, and he's one of the great players of English cricket,” Buttler went on.

Buttler was also aware of the 2016 episode at the Eden Gardens when West Indies’ Carlos Brathwaite took Stokes apart. The England captain termed it as amazing, the way Stokes turned around the fortunes.

“It's an amazing story really, isn't it? I think shame he did his documentary a year early. He could have added this in. Yeah, he's been on an amazing journey. I think all these big moments, like I'll always remember his words to Jofra about how things don't define you.

I think he's obviously never let that 2016 final sort of push him back, and you think of the things he's gone on to achieve in his career since then is just amazing,” Buttler amazed.

Stokes, Sam Curran, Jos Buttler, Alex Hales…all of them have stood up and drew a new face for England in white ball cricket over the last couple of years.

Buttler said it has changed the perception of English cricket altogether. “I think the perception of our team has changed a lot over the last few years. We've certainly not played it safe, and we've had results doing that.

“We know we've always tried to push the boundaries, tried to get ahead of the rest of the world and be braver than anyone else, and we'll take what comes from that. We know we'll slip up along the way, but we certainly trust that method and it's served us well, and we trust it in big games, as well.”