West Indies cricket team captain Jason Holder hailed England's premier all-rounder Ben Stokes for playing a heroic all-round performance that helped his national squad defeat West Indies by 113-runs to win the second Test at Manchester and level the 3-match series 1-1.
"Ben Stokes, of course, stood out. He was unarguably the player of the match. He was impactful with bat and ball and his energy is always great. I love competing against him because he builds you up for a dogfight," Holder wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.
Stokes won the man of the match for his match haul of 254 runs and three wickets in the second Eng vs WI Test on Monday. The star all-rounder also surpassed Holder to become the world's top-ranked Test all-rounder.
"I have never been caught up with the ICC individual rankings. My focus is solely on winning this series and people will form their own opinions so it doesn't faze me that Stokesey went above me in the all-rounder's rankings on Tuesday. I have my role to play to help the team and that's all that matters," Holder said.
Both the teams will take on each other in the final and third Test at the Old Trafford on Friday. While England will be looking to continue their remarkable performance to win the three-match series, Holder's troops just need a draw -- if not a win in the final Test -- to retain the Wisden Trophy.
If West Indies win the Test series, they will become the first Windies team to win a Test series in England since 1988.
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