‘Give someone else a chance and that someone has to be Ben Stokes’ – Ricky Ponting wants England to ‘move on’ from Test skipper Joe Root

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting feels all-rounder Ben Stokes should take over captaincy reins from Joe Root. Not a lot has gone right for England’s Test captain Root in the ongoing Ashes series Down Under. The visitors have already lost three games and have conceded the Urn. Root and Co. managed to salvage some pride by fighting it out in the middle with the bat in hand during the Sydney Test, but still look far from a winning position.

Meanwhile, Root’s tactics have constantly come under the scanner. England did not play James Anderson and Stuart Broad in the opener in Brisbane. While the former was injured, the latter was dropped. A lot of experts criticized Root for this call on not playing Broad for the first Test. Later, during one of the post-match conferences, Root told his bowlers were not “brave” enough and did not bowl a lot fuller. Ponting was bemused by the shocking answer from Root, and felt as a captain he should have told his bowlers.

The former Australian captain also felt for a brief while Stokes managed to do a good job as the captain during the third Ashes Test. Ponting feels it is the right time for Root to move on from the captaincy role.

“I think it’s time. I think four or five years in the job – having been there and done it myself, and with what they’ve done in the last couple of years – I think it’s time for him to move on and give someone else [a chance] and that someone else has to be Ben Stokes,” Ponting said on-air for Channel 7.

Stokes has previously led England in one Test against West Indies and three ODIs against Pakistan. Leading a second-string team, the southpaw managed to beat a top side like Pakistan 3-0. The all-rounder was lauded for his brilliant efforts by former cricketers and critics.