After the stepping down of Jos Buttler as the captain of the England cricket team, the hunt for a new skipper for the side has begun. Meanwhile the England Cricket Board (ECB) director Rob Key feels that the all-rounder, Ben Stokes is the perfect fit for the role as captain for the side. The 33-year-old could not be featured in this Champions Trophy edition due to a hamstring injury. He played his last ODI in the 2023 World Cup. The ECB director Rob Key feels it would be “stupid” not to consider the talismanic all-rounder, who has proven himself to be an “unbelievably good tactician”.

What did he say?

“Ben Stokes is one of the best captains I’ve ever seen. So it would be stupid not to look at him. It’s just the knock-on effect of what that means,” Key, director of men’s cricket in the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), was quoted as saying by ‘ESPNCricinfo‘.

“He’s someone that, when the pressure is really on, he”s able to throw a blanket around the players and actually say, ‘no, no, this is the way forward. Keep going with it‘,” Key added.

Buttler captaincy regime

Buttler had to resign because of the team’s performance under his leadership when it failed to register even a single win in the season. During the India tour, Buttler and co. also could not find their way to any series victory. They lost the 5-match T20 series by a marginal victory of 4-1. The Indian team also registered the ODI series victory by 3-0. With only 18 wins in 45 ODIs and a winning percentage of just over 40, it was right for Buttler to withdraw from the captaincy responsibility.

Ben Stokes is currently at Abu Dhabi recovering with an England Lions training group and is expected to be fully fit for the summer assignments, which include a five-Test series against India in June-July-August.