"Not sure he got it right this time" - Nasser Hussain on Ben Stokes' ugly dismissal in IND vs ENG 2023 World Cup clash

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has said that Ben Stokes' approach was completely wrong during the 2023 World Cup clash against India on Sunday in Lucknow. The all-rounder opted to curb his attacking instinct and wait for things to ease down, but the plan backfired.

Stokes, who came in to bat at No.4, was beaten all ends up by Mohammed Shami, registering a 10-ball duck. The left-hander sat back in the crease and tried to blast the ball away with a hoick, but the ball hit the stumps as the tourists slid from 30-0 to 33-3 in pursuit of a modest 230.

In his column for The Daily Mail, Hussain, in commentary alongside Eoin Morgan, said that the ball needed to go more to the outfield to have the affect of dew. The former player acknowledged that it was one of the few things Stokes got wrong.

"I was on commentary at that time with Eoin Morgan, when Ben Stokes was batting, and that is when we disagreed. Eoin would have tried to hit the ball into the outfield to try to make it wet and harder to bowl with, and that’s exactly what Stokes tried to do."

"It is very rare Ben gets it wrong, and he has been the key man in so many difficult situations in different forms of cricket over the years. But I’m not sure he got it right this time and contributed to England again losing wickets in the powerplay."

Hussain highlighted the first 10 overs of the innings as the ones to grind out and survive to cash in later.

"What England had to do was come through that tricky five to 10 over period at the start of their innings when the new ball was going to nip around, and then, things would have become easier for them.

"So, for me, old-fashioned as I am, that was the time when they needed to grind it out and survive that difficult spell you get in any form of the game."

The defending champions couldn't stop the rot once it took shape. Indian fast bowlers ran riot as Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah shared seven wickets between them. With the pitch assisting spin, Kuldeep Yadav also came into play as India won by a massive 100 runs.

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"Not going to happen" - Nasser Hussain on England reaching the semifinals

Nasser Hussain (Image Credits: Twitter)

Hussain reckons England's pride is at stake and urged Jos Buttler's men to spoil Australia's party on Saturday. He added that they have no chance of reaching the last four despite not being mathematically out of it yet:

"There may be a remote mathematical chance of England still getting to the last four but it’s not going to happen.

"They are out of this tournament and all they can do now is try to pull this around, beat Australia on Saturday and regain as much pride as possible."

England also risk missing the 2025 Champions Trophy, as they must finish in the top 7 for direct qualification. They're currently last in the 10-team standings in the World Cup, having lost five of their six games.