We are known to play aggressive cricket: Stokes

“It has worked since Trevor (Bayliss) came in as a coach. He gave more of that freedom. We played this attacking and positive brand of cricket. We started doing that in the last 12-18 months. It has worked, so why stop doing that,” remarked the 25-year-old Stokes in the open media session. 

“We got the criticism in South Africa, two (T20) games we lost. But we won six games in a row before that. T20 goes like that. You can win some and lose some,” the New Zealand-born player said. The left-handed batsman, who scored the fastest Test 250 for England against South Africa in Cape Town this January, believes that they have a balanced side for the competition. 

“We have got three spinners now, not just part time but they are front line spinners, so we have got the option of picking from them, now we could look to play all three if need be. And they could bat as well, so we have got options everywhere. 

“We have got left-handers (bowlers) and (also) pacers David Willey. We should only get out there (on matches) and execute (the plans),” he said. He felt that the tournament will definitely be a challenge for England, vis- -vis playing spin bowling, but pointed out that the side has played well against teams which have good spinners. 

“Yeah, it’s going to be a challenge, but we have shown in the recent series against Pakistan. We beat them 3-0 in the T20 series, so it actually showed that we can actually do against really good teams,” Stokes said. 

England, who recently lost to South Africa in the T20 series are in Group 1 which has teams like Sri Lanka, West Indies and South Africa. He said he looks forward to playing in the IPL and described the competition as a major one.