'I was a tired, grumpy old man': Ben Stokes apologizes to his England team-mates | Pakistan vs England 2024

Ben Stokes has admitted he behaved like “a grumpy old man” as England suffered defeat in the second Test in Multan, bowling out just 144 on a disintegrating surface and in a game in which his side were “against came in”, lost by 152 runs from the toss”.

The captain's tantrum came on Thursday as Pakistan's second innings neared its end and two direct opportunities to dismiss Salman Agha were thwarted. The batsman scored more than 50 runs after his letoffs, putting the game beyond England's reach.

“In these conditions in the subcontinent, catches don’t happen that often,” Stokes said. “I actually apologized to the group last night because it is the first time in my captaincy that I have expressed my feelings about the game and how it went in my body language. I stand by it and am very upset with myself for letting it out. It's something I don't want to do and don't want to do, so I apologized. I was a tired, grumpy old man, but that will never be seen again.”

The game was played on the same pitch used in the opening Test last week, which resulted in what Stokes called “pretty extreme conditions” once the surface began to show its age. Brendon McCullum, England head coach, said Jamie Smith was subjected to “the most extreme wicketkeeping conditions you can find”.

Stokes said the deterioration of the pitch, which seemed to happen “so quickly, almost out of nowhere” on the second day, made the throw crucial to the outcome of the game – but he “always said tails” and had no plans to change it Change tactics for next week's decision in Rawalpindi.

“If we had won the toss, things could have been completely different. It was always going to be huge,” he said. “It was always about batting first because the pitch would deteriorate. Me and Shan (Masood, the Pakistan captain) both knew this when we came out there at 9.30am on Tuesday. When you come into a test match and you know from the start that you're up against the game, you have to put all that out of your head and go out and play the game. Until today I thought we would always be there.”

Pakistan were bowled to their first home win since February 2021 by Noman Ali and Sajid Khan, who became the first spinner pair to take all 20 wickets in a Test since Jim Laker and Tony Lock at Old Trafford in 1956. Both were named in the Pakistan squad for this match following a series of controversial changes. “A lot has happened in the last week, so the most satisfying thing is for everyone to work together and strategize to take 20 wickets and make it happen,” Masood said. “It’s special for everyone because it comes after some tough times.”

Asked if his team's tactics posed a risk for this Test, Masood said: “England take risks every day and they have shown the way. If you want to win Test matches, you have to take risks.”