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Ben Stokes sprinted back 25 yards from mid-off and dived to take an outstanding catch to dismiss Shreyas Iyer. He clenched his right fist – other than the index finger that still bears the scars from a bad break 13 years ago – in delight, towards England fans in the Vizag stands.

It was almost as good as the World Cup grab in 2019 against South Africa at the Oval that led Nasser Hussain to exclaim on TV, ‘You cannot do that Ben Stokes!’ and was his second sublime piece of fielding this series after the first-Test run out of Ravindra Jadeja.

It was the moment, too, that proved beyond doubt that the England captain has recovered – albeit not enough just yet to bowl – from the operation on that chronic left knee problem that has cast such a cloud over him for the past 18 months or so.

To watch Ben Stokes here in India is to see a man at the peak of his powers as a batsman and leader, fitter than ever before at 32 after a rigid regime that has seen him cut out alcohol and even eschew golf in favour of more stringent exercise.

He is comfortable in his own skin and, approaching his 100th Test in Rajkot this week, is leading his team with such flair, tactical imagination and model man-management skills that he seems born to be not just England captain but already one of the very best to have held this prestigious post.

Ben Stokes, who is approaching his 100th Test, already seems one of the best England captains and is at the peak of his powers

Ben Stokes, who is approaching his 100th Test, already seems one of the best England captains and is at the peak of his powers

The 32-year-old is leading the team with flair, imagination, and model man-management skills

The 32-year-old is leading the team with flair, imagination, and model man-management skills

It has not always been this way. What a journey Stokes has been on to become the latest member of the 100-cap club. What setbacks he has overcome both on the cricket field and away from it before finding total professional fulfilment as the joint architect, with Brendon McCullum, of the style of cricket that is revolutionising the Test game.

Go back more than a decade, and even before Stokes’ Test debut there was evidence that life was not always going to be smooth for this New Zealand-born son of a tough-as-teak rugby league professional.

There was a police caution after a lively night out in his early days at Durham. Stokes was then sent home from an England Lions tour of Australia for bad behaviour, famously responding to then coach Andy Flower’s challenge that ‘you don’t want to play for England’ with the prescient words: ‘Yes I do. I’ll show you.’

Even after Stokes had shown just how good he could be with a century in his second Test in Perth amid the rubble of England’s 2013-14 Ashes capitulation, there was trouble ahead. He broke a hand punching a locker in the Caribbean and missed the 2014 World T20.

Then, on the field, there was the chastening experience of being hit for four successive last-over sixes by Carlos Brathwaite in Kolkata to lose the 2016 T20 World Cup.

Most of all, there was the night out in Bristol in 2017 that looked like it had ended Stokes’ career for good before he had reached his prime when he faced criminal charges after becoming embroiled in a violent brawl while on white-ball duty with England.

You could have got long odds on Stokes becoming a pioneering England captain then. But even before that horrible episode in English cricket history, which ended when Stokes was acquitted of affray, there were many who questioned his suitability for leadership.

Trevor Bayliss takes up the story. ‘We were in Bangladesh and I did a press conference in Chittagong,’ the former England coach tells Mail Sport. ‘Alastair Cook was coming towards the end of his captaincy and all the talk was over who would take over. Joe Root was the No 1 candidate and rightly got the job but one of you blokes asked me who else could do it. I said Ben Stokes and everyone laughed.

Trevor Bayliss recalls being laughed at when he suggested Stokes could be England captain

Trevor Bayliss recalls being laughed at when he suggested Stokes could be England captain 

Stokes has had his lows, including being hit for four successive last-over sixes to lose the 2016 T20 World Cup

Stokes has had his lows, including being hit for four successive last-over sixes to lose the 2016 T20 World Cup 

He faced criminal charges after being embroiled in a violent brawl in Bristol in 2017 while on white-ball duty with England

He faced criminal charges after being embroiled in a violent brawl in Bristol in 2017 while on white-ball duty with England 

‘I said, “What are you all laughing at?” The proof has been in the pudding, hasn’t it? He’s a leader of men and a positive guy.

‘If you are a leader you make a decision and everyone follows with no procrastination. Ben clearly does that. He’s one of those guys that people are attracted to. He’s always in the centre of things.’

Even when Root resigned after the 2022 tour of the Caribbean that ended with England having won just one of their previous 17 Tests, there were those of us who did not think Stokes should succeed him – though he was the only obvious candidate.

It was more about what the job could do to him. After all, he had had a spell out of the game in 2021 to prioritise his mental health after badly breaking the index finger in his other hand, his left, during an IPL game for the Rajasthan Royals.

Surely Stokes the all-rounder was too precious to English cricket to risk him becoming bogged down and weary with the captaincy. There had to be someone else. I even went as far as to tweet: ‘It would be madness to make Ben Stokes England captain. It could break him.’ Oops. I haven’t even deleted my embarrassing verdict either.

To be fair, I wasn’t alone – and it did seem a gamble to overburden a man who could be prone, as we have seen, to vulnerability and bad misjudgments in life, when he had so much still to give with bat, ball and in the field.

There has never been any doubt that he is touched by greatness as a cricketer.

After he made that maiden century in Perth in 2013, I wrote: ‘What English cricket has got is a genuine box-office star in the making with a bit of rebel about him who has found his cause.

Stokes did more than anyone to win the World Cup at Lord’s against his native New Zealand

Stokes did more than anyone to win the World Cup at Lord’s against his native New Zealand 

Despite his brilliance, there were fears he would be worn down by the captaincy, that he was too precious to risk

Despite his brilliance, there were fears he would be worn down by the captaincy, that he was too precious to risk 

‘It is an approach that is likely to take Stokes far and gain him plenty of attention along the way.’ At least I got that right.

Still, it took a while for English cricket to appreciate the rough diamond in their midst. Nothing said more about England’s then prehistoric attitude towards white-ball cricket that he was left out of the 2015 World Cup that was to prove a watershed.

A pivotal moment for Stokes came the following summer when Paul Farbrace, then the interim England coach before the arrival of Bayliss, promoted him to No 6 and he responded with an 85-ball hundred against New Zealand at Lord’s. ‘My view was that the more responsibility you gave Ben, the more you got out of him,’ Farbrace tells Mail Sport.

England certainly got more magic out of Stokes. It really began with his monumental 258 against South Africa in Cape Town in 2016 in a partnership of 399 with Jonny Bairstow. It was, in essence, the first seeds of Bazball.

Then there were the two iconic cricketing miracles of 2019 when Stokes did more than anyone to win the World Cup at Lord’s against his native New Zealand and followed it with that extraordinary innings at Headingley to give England a one-wicket win to rival the Ian Botham and Bob Willis miracle at the same ground in 1981.

Since then we have seen Stokes play the decisive innings to win the T20 World Cup against Pakistan in Melbourne and, of course, take on the role that will define him – the England captaincy – playing cricket that is so positive, so dynamic and such sheer fun that it could conceivably save the greatest and longest form of the game.

Not to mention how empathetic and supportive he is to all his players, both on and off the field. Take the case of 19-year-old Rehan Ahmed, who missed training ahead of the second Test because he chose to fast. He had no concerns about being the only player to miss the session. He knew he had the full support of the captain and all his team-mates.

The leg-spinner then told us of the time during the Abu Dhabi training camp before this series when he asked team manager Wayne Bentley if he and Shoaib Bashir could miss a team outing on a Friday because they had to pray. When Stokes heard about it, he immediately contacted Ahmed to say: ‘Come to me if ever you need to ask these things. There will never be a problem.’ And there hasn’t.

How wrong I was about Stokes the captain - and never have I been more delighted to have been so

How wrong I was about Stokes the captain – and never have I been more delighted to have been so

Alongside Brendon McCullum, Stokes, pictured at the Ashes in 2023 has re-energised England's Test cricket with the Bazball style

Alongside Brendon McCullum, Stokes, pictured at the Ashes in 2023 has re-energised England’s Test cricket with the Bazball style

How wrong I was about Stokes the captain – and never have I been more delighted to have been so. For example, there is something going on during this tour away from the public eye that has shown just how well-suited Stokes is to this job. Two days before each Test, Stokes conducts an extra press conference just for the papers and our websites – that he is not obliged to do – that helps us, with an unfavourable time difference, to properly preview each game in print with the captain’s input.

There are no cameras. No broadcasters. It is just a small, old-fashioned gathering that Stokes willingly holds on top of his official media undertakings the day before a Test, that he undertakes purely as a favour to help the English journalists here.

It is also an unadulterated joy and privilege to listen to Stokes holding court. You just know you are in the company of a very special leader who will go down in English cricket history as one of the very best, if he has not reached those lofty heights already.

The demands of modern media was one of the aspects of the job that I feared would weigh down Stokes the captain. I thought he would hate it.

Stokes will receive his 100th cap on Thursday with the series against India poised at 1-1. If he can win the next Ashes with Bazball, he will indisputably be England's greatest

Stokes will receive his 100th cap on Thursday with the series against India poised at 1-1. If he can win the next Ashes with Bazball, he will indisputably be England’s greatest 

It may seem a small issue away from what he actually does on the field but it is important and Stokes is brilliant at that, too. Always honest, always insightful and always straightforward. I even think he enjoys our gatherings, which I wouldn’t have thought possible post-Bristol.

Ben Stokes will receive his 100th cap on Thursday with this series perfectly poised at 1-1 and India fascinated and intrigued by him and Bazball. England may not win here but thanks largely to Stokes, it will never be dull finding out.

Long may he reign – right up to the next Ashes. Win that series in two winters’ time playing Bazball and Ben Stokes the captain will indisputably be the greatest.

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This post first appeared on Daily mail

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