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Ben Stokes, England's premier all-rounder, has experienced a notable drop in his ICC Test rankings across all categories following two underwhelming Test matches in Pakistan.
Stokes missed the three-match Test series against Sri Lanka at home and the first Test of the Pakistan tour due to injury. In his absence, Ollie Pope captained the side, leading England to a 2-1 victory against Sri Lanka and securing an innings win in Multan. Upon his return for the final two Tests in Pakistan, Stokes' performance was underwhelming, scoring only 53 runs at an average of 13.25 and conceding 33 runs without taking a wicket. His scores of 1, 37, 12, and 3 highlighted his struggles. These performances resulted in a significant slide in his ICC Test batting rankings. After the first Test, Stokes dropped from 30th to 34th in the batting rankings. The second Test saw him fall further to 41st, marking the first time since December 30, 2015, that he has been outside the top 40. He had been at 40th twice , reached on October 30, 2016, and February 3, 2019. Stokes' bowling ranking also suffered, dropping from 46th to 51st, the first time he has fallen outside the top 50 since August 2, 2015. During this period, his lowest rank had been 49th, achieved on February 19, February 27, and July 30, 2024. Consequently, his all-rounder ranking, which is influenced by both batting and bowling performances, also declined. Stokes fell from 9th to 12th, marking his first time outside the top 10 since December 30, 2015. Stokes previously held the top all-rounder spot in 2021 and was a consistent presence in the top five for several years. His highest batting rank was third, achieved on July 20, 2020, while his best bowling rank was 19th, reached on July 31, 2017. (ANI)
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