Ben Stokes has received high praise following England's dramatic victory over Pakistan, after former captain Nasser Hussain labelled the all-rounder's work as the best 'captaincy display' he has ever seen. England headed out to Pakistan looking to continue their positive style of play - labelled 'BazBall' after coach Brendon McCullum - that they showcased in the summer.
And Stokes' side did not disappoint, securing a remarkable 74-run victory in Rawalpindi on following a Test match for the ages. England flew out the traps in their first innings, racking up 657 at an incredible run-rate of 6.50.
After Pakistan also enjoyed themselves on the batter-friendly Rawalpindi pitch scoring 579, England continued to attack in their second innings, once again scoring at over one run a ball to post a further 264.
As the game reached tea on day four, Stokes and head coach McCullum made the brave call to declare to leave Babar Azam's team 342 for victory. At the declaration, many had Pakistan down as the favourites due to the amount of time remaining in the game, as well as the conditions.
The England setup however knew they needed as much time as possible to find a victory due to the pitch, and decided to take the risk which remarkably paid off following a dramatic final session in day five. On the back the victory, England have received plenty of plaudits.
No more so than from Hussain, who hailed skipper Stokes for his decision making across the Test match. Writing for the Daily Mail , he said: " Ben Stokes has just produced the finest five days of captaincy I've ever witnessed - either growing up as a kid, playing or commentating on the game.
"To win a Test match in those conditions, on that Rawalpindi pitch, probably the flattest I've seen, was truly remarkable. To win a match in these circumstances, you have to work out how to get 20 wickets, to score your runs quickly enough to give yourself time to get those 20 wickets, and the decision making process had to be clinical throughout. It was a masterclass.
Where does Monday's win rank above England's greatest Test wins? Let us know in the comments section below.
Claiming the English all-rounder did not put a foot wrong, the former captain added: "Stokes literally had to get every decision right and even by getting every decision right, England won with just 10 minutes to spare.
"First, he pushed this attacking batting line up out the door on day one, and when they came back in with more than 500 in 75 overs, they had bought time to push for victory... But what I was really looking forward to seeing was how Stokes would work out with his bowlers how to get more 20 wickets on that pitch.
"I played three Tests out here and I didn't see anything as dead as that. Because he got the team's batting tempo right, he got the declaration spot on by dangling the carrot and making sure Pakistan had something to play for until the end."
