Former England captain Michael Atherton feels Ben Stokes has struggled to pick up the pace against India’s premier fast bowler, Jasprit Bumrah. Stokes was bowled in the first innings of the second Test match at Vizag by Bumrah as he was flabbergasted by the movement.

Furthermore, Bumrah had got rid of Stokes in the first innings at Hyderabad. Thus, the Indian ace pacer has dismissed the England skipper on two occasions in the ongoing two-match Test series.

Bumrah has got a stuttering action and the batters don’t expect the ball to be above 140 kmph. However, Bumrah is consistently quick and can hurry onto the batters.

“Picking with the speed of the ball is tough with him, and I’ve noticed with Stokes, even Stokes actually is an excellent player of fast bowling. He’s hurried with Bumrah,” Atherton told Sky Cricket.

“He struggles to pick up the pace, and a couple of times when he’s got him, it looks as though the ball has kept low, which has but it also almost beaten him for pace as well. I think that’s the issue with Bumrah,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Indian gun fast bowler returned with figures of 9-91 in the second Test match against England at Vizag. The ace pacer bowled a terrific spell of 6-45 in the first innings on a flat track as he played a key role in skittling out England at 253.

Furthermore, Bumrah had bagged six wickets in the opening Test match at Hyderabad, including 4-41 in the second innings. Bumrah has scalped 29 wickets in six Test matches in home conditions at a splendid average of 13.06. After performing consistently in the recent past, Bumrah has climbed to the top of the ICC Test rankings.

On the other hand, Ben Stokes has scored 134 runs in two Test matches against India at an average of 33.50.

The third Test match between India and England will be played at Rajkot from 15th February onwards.