England Men’s Cricket Managing Director Rob Key said: “I had no hesitation in offering Ben the role of Test captain. He embodies the mindset and vision we need to take this team into the next era of red-ball cricket. I’m glad he has accepted, and he is ready for the additional responsibility and respect. He totally deserves this opportunity.”
Root has announced to step down as the captain of the Test team after the humiliating defeats against Australia and West Indies. England’s performance in the World Test Championship 2021-2023 under Root’s captaincy was disappointing. The team has managed to win only one match out of 13 during this period. England is at the bottom of the WTC points table at 10th position.
After the resignation of Joe Root, many players including Stokes and Jonny Bairstow were in the race to become the captain of England, but Stokes has won the race. Ben Stokes has played 79 Test matches for England so far and scored 5061 runs. During this, his bat has scored 11 centuries and 26 half-centuries. At the same time, he has also taken 174 wickets with the ball. His best performance with the ball has been eight wickets for 161 runs. At the same time, his innings of 258 runs with the bat is his biggest score. In 2017 he was appointed the vice-captain of the Test team. He has also captained in the absence of Root.
Joe Root stepped down from the captaincy after the team’s 1-0 defeat in the Test series against the West Indies. After the loss in this series, England’s team has reached the bottom of the World Test Championship table. Now it will be the responsibility of Ben Stokes to lift his team up. The England team has been in a bad shape since the start of the World Test Championship. England had lost the Test series against Australia before losing against the West Indies.