"His and Tom Hartley's runs are almost equal" - Aakash Chopra criticizes Ben Stokes' performance in IND vs ENG Tests

Aakash Chopra recently criticized Ben Stokes for his underwhelming performances with the bat in the five-match Test series between India and England.

India beat England by an innings and 64 runs in the fifth Test in Dharamsala on Saturday, March 9. Stokes managed only two runs off 10 deliveries as the visitors were bundled out for 195 after conceding a 259-run first-innings lead.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra reflected on some of the England batters' second-innings dismissals and their performances in the series.

As for Stokes, he said (5:10):

"The England media is saying that Ben Stokes is at par with Ian Botham as an all-rounder. I am saying the truth is that he has been extremely disappointing as a batter in this entire series. Despite scoring 70 runs in the first match, his and Tom Hartley's runs are almost equal."

Chopra reckons Jonny Bairstow's aggressive approach was a way to hide his defensive frailties.

"Jonny Bairstow doesn't play while standing in his position because he doesn't have the confidence to do that. He is not reading the ball from the hand and the big shots are a cop-out. Whenever you saw Jonny Bairstow play, you felt like he wanted to break jail and escape," Chopra stated.

Ben Stokes aggregated 199 runs, just 14 more than Tom Hartley's tally, at an average of 19.90 in 10 innings in the series. Bairstow totaled 238 runs at an average of 23.80 and was trapped leg-before-wicket by Kuldeep Yadav for a 31-ball 39 on Saturday.

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"It happens very rarely that you score 196 in the first match and then don't do anything in the entire series" - Aakash Chopra on Ollie Pope

Ollie Pope was caught by Yashasvi Jaiswal off Ravichandran Ashwin's bowling.

Aakash Chopra noted that Ollie Pope endured a poor run after his 196-run knock in the second innings of the first Test.

"Ollie Pope - it happens very rarely that you score 196 in the first match and then don't do anything in the entire series, that you don't make it a 450 to 500-run series when you scored nearly 200 runs in the first match. He looked extremely clueless. It wasn't a ball to sweep," he observed.

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that Ben Duckett, who wanted England to be credited for Yashasvi Jaiswal's aggressive approach, was beaten all ends up and bowled by Ravichandran Ashwin.

"Ben Duckett stepped out against Ravichandran Ashwin, got yorked, and was bowled. Ben Duckett did score a century for sure and said a lot of things about the credit that should be given for the way Yashasvi was playing. The truth is that England have hit 30 sixes in the entire series and Yashasvi alone has hit 26," Chopra said.

Chopra opined that England need to do a little soul-searching. He pointed out that their batting crumbled on a pitch where their bowlers couldn't separate Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah for more than 20 overs.