One of the popular destinations for visitors to Pune, especially those from overseas, is the golf course located on the Mumbai-Pune Highway. Appropriately, and rather eponymously, named Oxford Golf Course, Ben Stokes was known to have a deep liking for it. He was smitten by the serene surroundings and the lush green expanses amidst the concrete jungle that engulfs this part of the world. Perhaps he found the greenery there reminiscent of the ambience back home in England.
“He cherished the golf course. He would frequent it often, never passing up an opportunity to play a round of golf there,” reminisced Raghu Iyer, who was the CEO of the now-defunct Pune Supergiants IPL franchise for which Stokes played. “He also loved the Gahunje Stadium, its surroundings, setup, the team, his teammates… everything about Pune.”
Stokes played for Pune Supergiants in 2017, and had he not been called back by his cricket board, the team might have lifted the IPL title that year. Stokes was unavailable for the league from the playoffs onwards. The team lost the final by just one run. However, that was over six years ago.
“That was when he was only 26, quite young,” Iyer recalled, “but he had already displayed flashes of the genius that he is. He seamlessly adapted to the IPL and its competitive environment. He didn’t let the pressure of being the highest-paid foreign player in the IPL affect his performance (his current England teammate Sam Curran, being the present highest paid IPL player would know this). He would bat, field, and bowl as required by the team management during matches as well as in practice.” Iyer also remembered the brilliant century (102) Stokes had scored under extremely challenging circumstances for PSG that year. “It was just like today’s century, against the Dutch.”
The love affair between Stokes and Pune was not limited to those two centuries. He had also delivered a breathtaking 99 runs against India in an ODI in 2021. What stood out in that innings were the 10 sixes he hammered with a strike rate of nearly 200. It secured England a series-tying victory in the three-match series. England went on to lose the series for other reasons, but he was exceptional that day in Pune.
He was exceptional once again in Pune today. He skilfully leveraged his familiarity with the conditions and scored a century that was crucial for his side on Wednesday. It may have significantly boosted the morale of the Jos Buttler-led team, whose mood during most of the England innings today mirrored the gloomy weather in Pune throughout the day. The defending champions, who have been eliminated from the World Cup prematurely, are now on the verge of overcoming the twin setbacks of failing to qualify for the semifinals and the Champions Trophy. The prospects for Champions Trophy qualification have now immensely improved.
It took the characteristic brilliance of Stokes to uplift the spirits within the English camp. The way he paced his innings was the standout feature, initially rotating the strike and anchoring one end to stem the tide of the ever-crumbling batting lineup. “I had a look at the scoreboard and reminded myself there was a lot of time remaining (in the innings). I tried to take it deep and cash in later,” Stokes would say later.
Once the task of building the innings was taken care of, he then stepped on the gas. After reaching his first 50 runs from 58 deliveries with just three boundaries, Stokes changed gears and reached his century in just 20 deliveries, unleashing three fours and six sixes. The turning point came in the 43rd over, from which he didn’t look back, ensuring that the team reached a nearly insurmountable total of 339. At one point, this total seemed like a distant dream.
Pune also provided him with a stroke of luck. He was given a second chance when Aryan Dutt dropped a catch off Logan van Beek in the 39th over, a reprieve he did not fail to capitalize on. He was finally dismissed in the 50th over, having ensured that the team posted a healthy total. England ended up winning the match, their second victory in eight matches, by 160 runs. Deservedly named the Player of the Match, Stokes mentioned that he was more pleased with the team’s victory than his century. “It was a nice wicket to bat on. It provided some tennis-ball bounce,” Stokes said post match.
The England captain believed that the familiarity of the surroundings in Pune may have been the catalyst for Stokes’ century. “Potentially,” said Buttler later. “I think in his first IPL he got a 100 here, didn’t he? And a few years ago, he was out on 99 in an ODI here as well. So yes, obviously (it’s) a ground he likes playing at and that’s great for us today.”
Only recently, Stokes admitted that England have been ‘crap’ in this World Cup. “I think the problem is that we’ve been crap. To be honest with you, we’ve been crap,” the England all-rounder had said in an honest assessment of England’s shoddy World Cup campaign. They came dangerously close to being crap once again against the Netherlands, arguably one of the lightweight teams in world cricket but for Stokes himself, who has ensured his side avoided the embarrassment of being crap again in the familiar surroundings. Just that, he was so serious with his preparation, he did not have time to visit his favourite place in the city during this trip – the Oxford Golf Course.
