Stuart Broad names his best teammate and the toughest batsman he has bowled to

Stuart Broad, the England fast bowler, picked Ben Stokes as the best teammate he has ever played with. The 28-year-old Stokes has developed into a dependable figure for the Three Lions across all the three formats. He was one of the key reasons why the Brits managed to lift the World Cup at home back in July 2019. Even in the final, he turned out with a game saving half-century.

Thereafter, the New Zealand-born showed his class in the Ashes. His century at the Headingley in Leeds helped England beat Australia from a near-hopeless situation. The 33-year-old Broad is impressed with the impact Stokes has had with his all-round potential.

“I feel very lucky to have the option to name a few here but, if I thought about three or four, I might get to between 10-15. So, being brutally strict, I would have to say Ben Stokes is the best I have played with, for the positive impact he can have on games with bat, ball and in the field,” Broad was quoted as saying in Daily Telegraph.

Stuart Broad opines

Broad, who has over 720 wickets in his 14-year career thus far, named Steve Smith as the toughest batter he has ever bowled to. The speedster said the Australian batsman makes life difficult for a bowler and has the hunger to score runs.

“As for against? I have yet to figure out the best way to bowl at Steve Smith. He makes life tough for bowlers and has a huge hunger for big scores,” he added. Smith is currently the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) number one ranked Test batsman.

Interestingly, Broad has gotten the better of Smith as many as 11 times (eight times in Tests, three times in ODIs). Smith hasn’t scored many runs either while facing Broad. Smith was on top of his game in the previous Ashes, the very series where he made his Test comeback following the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.

In the Test series, Smith suffered a concussion after being hit around the neck by fast bowler Jofra Archer. Nevertheless, he came back and smashed a double century in the fourth Test.