Joe Root wants Ben Stokes to find weaknesses in Smith during IPL

Ben Stokes took this year's IPL auction by storm, as he was picked up by Rising Pune Supergiant after a bout of fierce bidding.

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Joe Root and Ben Stokes
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Joe Root and Ben Stokes of England. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

English skipper for the long format of the game Joe Root has asked his teammate Ben Stokes to find weaknesses in Rising Pune Supergiant skipper Steve Smith. Root wanted the all-rounder to look into the areas where Smith falls short, so that the English can use it to their advantage during the Ashes series later this year.

Steve Smith has made headlines for his extended stay at the crease. In the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Smith amassed 499 runs and scored 3 centuries through the course of the series. Smith’s 3 hundreds made him the Australian player with most hundreds in India. Along with Alastair Cook, he also became the second visiting captain to have scored 3 centuries in India.

“Smith has become one of the best players in the world. In fact, he is ranked as the best player in the world and is just racking up the runs for fun,” Root was quoted as saying to Dailystar.co.uk.

The Indian bowling line-up seemed rather clueless as to how to get Smith out. No matter what plans they came up with, Smith always seemed to get the better of the bowlers.

“So the one thing Stokes can do for us is make sure he finds a little weakness in Smith’s armoury for us when we go down to Australia, if he can,” the English skipper added.

Ben Stokes took this year’s IPL auction by storm, as he was picked up by Rising Pune Supergiant after a bout of fierce bidding. Stokes was bagged by the Supergiant for a whopping 14.50 crore, making him the most expensive overseas player in IPL history. Stokes will make his debut this year in the 10th season of the star-studded tournament, and Pune will hope he fires early on.

Stokes is one of several English players who had made it big in this year’s auction. Pacer Tymal Mills, a T20 specialist, has also been impressive with his variations with the ball. RCB were happy to pick him up to fill in Mitchell Stark’s spot.

England will travel down under to go up against arch rivals Australia in the Ashes series. Root will hope that his teammate comes with some valuable insight to make sure Smith isn’t ‘root’ed to the crease.

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