Steve Smith shared his batting secret with Ben Stokes ahead of Ashes

Ben Stokes, was the Most Valuable Player of the tenth season of the Indian Premier League where he outplayed and outnumbered the other contenders both with the bat and the ball. The English all-rounder revealed that he could not have achieved such a feat without the valuable inputs from the Rising Pune Supergiant skipper Steve Smith.

For Smith, it was a necessity that Stokes performed for the all-round success of the team and the Englishman did not disappoint the rival ‘Australian’ Steve Smith. The Australian would have been a tad disappointed given his team void of Ben Stokes lost the finals against the two-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians.

Later this year England and Australia will lock horns twice, first in the Champions Trophy and then the Ashes series at the end of the year. It was perhaps surprising to learn that Smith has been helping Stokes improve his batting, given the rivalry between the two nations. The Aussie skipper though selflessly has imparted his knowledge to the dangerous left-handed all-rounder from England.

Ashes rivals to mates

“From playing with a guy you play against – England v Australia and the hype around England v Australia – then playing with him, it was really good actually,” said Stokes to Cricket Australia.

“I remember doing a batting session with some power hitting where the guy who I will actually be playing against in the Ashes in our winter was helping me, which is something that you would never be able to fathom when you are playing against each other. The IPL is probably the only place where you get that.”

Asked if he was sure Smith was helping him, a grinning Stokes replied: “It would be a good tactic if he wasn’t.”

IPL Experience

The all-rounder appreciated the quality of the tournament and said that it gives the player the right amount of exposure before an international tournament like Champions Trophy and striving in the IPL included a whole lot of hard work.

“Yes, it was an amazing tournament to be part of,” he said. “And getting the MVP is obviously something you strive for when you play in tournaments like that.”

“I guess if you go out there and perform you are obviously going to be up there but just playing in the IPL and the whole experience around it, the exposure, playing with and against players from all around the world was a pretty good one,” Stokes added.

The all-rounder then appreciated the efforts of Stephen Fleming and Eric Simmons for improving his ability all-round the pitch, be it with the bat or be it with the ball in hand.

“I think it has helped my game in certain areas, being able to work with specialist coaches in Twenty20 cricket,” said the 25-year-old

“I think my bowling has gone up another level, working with Eric Simons (Pune’s South African bowling coach). All in all I think my areas are a lot better and tighter than they have been recently in one-day cricket, which came from just working solely with him over the six weeks I was there. “And other aspects as well – batting in different situations and different pressure – you would hope that coming away from that tournament all parts of my game have got better,” concluded the Christchurch-born English all-rounder.