Stuart Broad supports Ben Stokes on 'business class' controversy

England seamer Stuart Broad posted a tweet on Thursday about being at the receiving end of kindness from two of his special teammates while travelling during overseas tours. The tweet was a reply to that, a controversial one, of all-rounder Ben Stokes which clarified his statement on the ‘business class’ issue involving Indian captain Virat Kohli and his wife Anushka Sharma.

It all started when former England skipper Michael Vaughan appreciated Virat and Anushka on Twitter for having given up their business class seats to India’s fast bowlers after 5 exhaustive days of Test cricket against Australia at Adelaide. Ben Stokes, as a reply to the veteran’s tweet, said that Trevor Bayliss, who is the head coach of England cricket team, also made a similar gesture in the past. The tweet didn’t go well with the Twitterati as they felt that the southpaw’s statement seems to be disparaging the nice efforts of the world’s best batsman and his spouse.

Stokes, in turn, made another tweet explaining that the idea behind his earlier tweet was only to point out the kind gesture of his coach during England’s tour of India in 2016. He further added that he always respected the current World No.1 batsman in Tests for what he has achieved as a player and he had nothing against him nor did his controversial tweet.

The controversial part

After Vaughan and Stokes, another English cricketer in Stuart Broad also has his say on the issue. The 32-year old replied to the clarification tweet of his compatriot. He said that his former captain Alastair Cook and his current captain Joe Root have also given up their business class seats while travelling during overseas tours. Broad, being a fast bowler himself, was more than relieved to be the recipient of cozy and sophisticated seats for him to take ample rest after exhaustive matches.

The tweet reads: “I’ve been the lucky recipient of these gestures from Cooky & Rooty for years.” It looks like Broad wants to comfort his compatriot Stokes with his tweet after all the mishap. By calling himself a ‘lucky recipient, the right-arm bowler has asserted the importance of fast bowlers’ getting to travel comfortably during tours. It makes sense as the pacers run all-day long and hit the deck hard which does take a toll at their stamina and fitness.

Stokes’ controversial tweet

Bit of confusion with my last tweet I think,being a bowler I have great respect for Virat doing what he did,I was simply saying our head coach did it for one of our players when we toured India in 2016 🙂

— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) December 11, 2018

Broad’s reply to Stokes

I’ve been the lucky recipient of these gestures from Cooky & Rooty for years.

— Stuart Broad (@StuartBroad8) December 11, 2018

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