Joe Root to use Ben Stokes as a medium to chalk out Ashes strategy

New Delhi: It's just a little more than seven months to go when cricket fans will be entertained by the game's oldest rivalry- The Ashes. But it seems that the new English skipper, Joe Root is already chalking out plans along with Ben Stokes to retain the trophy.

Few days before the IPL auction, Indian fans faced a heartbreak when Mahendra Singh Dhoni stepped down as the captain of the Pune team. Steve Smith was soon announced as the replacment. And then came the day of the much enthralling auction. Indian media was filled with reports on the day following the IPL auction last February about Ben Stokes being the highest sold player in this season. It was Rising Pune Supergiants who bought the all-rounder for a whopping Rs 14.5 crore after a nail-biting bidding stint. And for Root, it was a moment to smile.

With Smith as the skipper and Stokes playing under him, the Aussie might find it little troubling if Ben showed too much interest on his captaincy secrets. And with the skipper currently ranked No.1 on ICC Test rankings for batsmen, Stokes would be little to keen to gulp in some inside news, his drawbacks, something that would definitely help his team and his captain during the November showdown at Australia. Not only that, the English will be also find himself amongst other Australian players, namely- Usman Khawaja, Adam Zampa and Dan Christian. Thus while cricket fans will be busy wondering how the Australians will be welcomed by their Indian teammates, the Englishmen would rather use the opportunity to judge their Aussie teammate during the IPL season.

In an interview to England reporters last week, Joe Root said, “Smith has become one of the best players in the world. In fact, he is ranked as the best player in the world and is just racking up the runs for fun. So the one thing Stokesy can do for us is make sure he finds a little weakness in Steve Smith’s armoury for us when we go down to Australia. If he can."

Smith has surely been having the best time of his career. Since his scintillating century, back in 2013 Ashes during the fifth Test at Oval, the Aussie batsman has notched up a total of 19 Test centuries and brought up an average of around 71.

"He's a cricket nuffie, loves the game," praised the Australian coach Darren Lehmann. "He's been Bradman-like with the bat but all the stuff behind the scenes has been exceptional."