England coach Brendon McCullum has admitted that Ben Stokes' captaincy wasn't at his best during their Test series loss to Pakistan, attributing it to his hamstring injury and the frenetic recovery that followed.
Stokes recovered from his hamstring injury - sustained in the Hundred - to return for the second Test, taking back the captaincy from fill-in Ollie Pope. Pakistan won both the last two Tests, achieving their first home Test series win since 2021.
McCullum was sympathetic of Stokes' injury, and praised him for working hard to bounce back quickly, but admitted the after-effects of the laborious recovery had a negative effect on the England captain's decision-making.
“Look, with Stokesy that injury was quite a significant injury," McCullum said a day after Pakistan's series win. "He had to work incredibly hard to get back. As the driven athlete he is, he’s all-in when he does something. He had to put in a lot of graft there and subconsciously it can… not cloud things, but maybe you’re not quite as screwed down as you can be in terms of decision-making.
“That’s natural, as long as you learn from that and make sure next time you’re presented with that situation you’re able to block out the noise and stay crystal clear in the moment."
Stokes was left looking for answers when Pakistan's lower-order fought back in Rawalpindi, when the hosts' last three wickets combined for 167 runs, taking them from 177-7 to 344. Rehan Ahmed was held back in the second session on day two as the game drifted away. Stokes did not avail himself as a bowling option, later stating: "I just didn't feel like my bowling was going to be anywhere near as threatening as the options we had."
The manner of his head-scratching dismissal in the third innings - leaving a Noman Ali delivery to be out lbw - further added to the misery.
McCullum remained confident Stokes will learn from the shortcomings of the 2-1 defeat.
“He’s disappointed but he’s our skipper and we know he’s a tough bugger. He’ll make sure he’ll come back and it’s our job to make sure we wrap our arms around him and help him along the way.”
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