Root: Stokes 'trusts his body again' after Lord's heroics

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Joe Root believes England captain Ben Stokes is back to his best, with his bowling heroics against India proving the all-rounder "trusts his body" again.

Stokes was only cleared to bowl again in May, having undergone surgery to repair a left hamstring tear in December. He also suffered a similar injury while representing the Northern Superchargers in The Hundred last August.

England were up against it in the third Test against India as play entered day five on Monday, having been bowled out for 192 in their second innings.

But Stokes proved an inspiration for the hosts as they claimed a 22-run victory, taking figures of 3-48 in India's second innings.

He was named Player of the Match after England moved into a 2-1 series lead, becoming just the third England skipper to have that honour in a Lord's Test.

The other two instances also came against India, with Graham Gooch doing so in 1990 and Nasser Hussain following in his footsteps in 2002.

Stokes bowled 44 overs in total at Lord's – the most of any player in the match.

Having floated the idea of withdrawing Stokes from the attack, Root is glad his advice was ignored.

Root said: "He doesn't always listen to me. He didn't listen to me when I was captain!

"But, no, he knows what he's doing and he's got a good handle on where he's at physically. It was an incredible effort.

"He's just desperate to be the man to make things happen. It takes an incredible effort to be able to do that.

"I was just panicking that he wasn't going to make it through the game after a couple of bad injuries, but he clearly trusts his body now.

"It's a great sign for us moving forward, that he's back to his best."

The fourth Test gets under way at Old Trafford on July 23, with England seeking their first series win over India since a 4-1 triumph on home soil in 2018.