Joe Root, Pietersen, Vaughan react to Ben Stokes' appointment as England Test skipper

The 30-year-old England all-rounder Ben Stokes was appointed as the successor Joe Root as the captain of the England Men’s Test team on Thursday, weeks after Root stepped down from the role. The development came as welcome news for cricket fans around the globe as Stokes has been the vice-captain of the team for many years now and is being seen as the man who can leand England back to the glory days in the Test format. While the entire cricket community reacted to Stokes’ appointment as the Test skipper, the most notable reactions came from Root himself and former England cricketers Kevin Pietersen and Michael Vaughan. 

Hours after England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced Stokes’ appointment, Root took to his official Twitter handle to congratulate his teammate. “Always got each other’s backs. Congratulations mate, I’ll be right with you every step of the way,” Root tweeted while sharing a picture of him with Stokes. It is noteworthy that,  Joe Root was regarded as one of the most successful Test captain of England, as he returned with 27 wins while leading the team in 64 matches with a win percentage of 42.18.

In the meantime, former English batter Pietersen also expressed his thoughts by saying that he knows Stokes will make the England fans proud. “Congrats, @benstokes38! An incredible honour and I know you’ll do all of us England fans proud!,” Pietersen wrote on Twitter. Pietersen too led the England Test team in three Test matches in 2008 and returned with one win, one loss, and a draw. 

Meanwhile, former England skipper Vaughan also took to his Twitter handle and said, “ Good luck with the best job in world sport @benstokes38 .. I think you are going to make a fine Test skipper”. Vaughan led the England Test squad from 2003 to 2008 in a total of 51 matches. He returned with 26 wins, 11 losses, and 14 draws, and had a win percentage of 50.98%.

A look at the stats of Ben Stokes in Test cricket

Stokes became the 81st captain of the England Men’s Test team by succeeding Joe Root. The allrounder has played a total of 79 Test matches for England so far in his career, after making his debut in 2013. He has scored 5061 runs at an average of 35.89, which includes 11 centuries and 26 half-centuries. In the meantime, he has left a lasting impact on the game by returning with a total of 174 wickets, including seven four-wicket hauls and four five-wicket hauls.

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