Ben Stokes’s Leadership is the Cornerstone of a Fearless England

England’s 22-run victory over India embodied the cultural shift Ben Stokes has engineered since taking over from Joe Root three and a half years ago. As captain and player of the match, Stokes was central to every key moment: grafting to score 77 invaluable runs across two tense innings, punishing his injury-ravaged body through long, hostile spells to claim five critical wickets, and producing the match-defining run-out of Rishabh Pant just as India threatened to wrestle control.

Leadership Through Trust and Shared History

The way Stokes handled Jofra Archer’s emotional and long‑awaited Test return stood out, particularly on the final morning with the match delicately poised. Asking Archer to bowl straight away wasn’t a routine choice. Archer was returning to Test cricket after four years of injury setbacks and hadn’t bowled particularly well the previous evening. The pressure could hardly have been greater, yet Stokes handed him the ball without hesitation.

For Stokes, this was more than a tactical decision; it was an act of trust rooted in their shared history. Six years earlier to the day at Lord’s, a 28‑year‑old Stokes and a 24‑year‑old Archer had been central protagonists in England’s 2019 ODI World Cup final win. Stokes delivered the innings of his life to drag England to a tie, and Archer, entrusted with the Super Over, held his nerve to deliver the most pressurised six balls in the country’s cricketing history. That night forged a bond built on absolute belief in one another under extreme circumstances.

At Lord’s again, Stokes drew from that same emotional well. By tossing Archer the ball, he wasn’t just asking for overs; he was sending an unspoken message: you’ve done this before, and I trust you completely to do it again.

The stakes could not have been higher. Rishabh Pant, one of the most dangerous batters in the modern game, was at the crease. He is almost designed for these situations -- capable of dismantling bowling attacks in an hour and carrying India to improbable victories. Had Pant batted for even 30 more minutes, India would likely have cruised home. Pant was India’s built‑in match-winner. To get him out early was to win the game.

Archer responded instantly. His first over crackled with intent, and with a searing delivery that uprooted Pant’s stumps, he broke the contest open. It was a moment that encapsulated Stokes’s gift as a captain: his ability to project his own confidence onto his players, to make them feel invincible, and in doing so, to draw out their very best when it matters most.

The Bashir Moment: Building Belief From Scratch

But Stokes’s genius lies in knowing how to lead each player differently -- drawing on shared triumphs to inspire seasoned champions like Archer, and building belief from the ground up for rookies like Shoaib Bashir.

Bashir, a 20-year-old spinner thrust into the spotlight and bowling through the pain of a fractured finger, had been the target of unwarranted criticism in the build-up to the match. Yet Stokes treated him with the same unwavering trust he showed Archer.

With India needing only 30 runs to win and the tension at Lord’s thick enough to touch, Stokes tossed the ball to Bashir. For a captain to entrust such a high-pressure moment to a rookie was bold; for Bashir, the message was unmistakeable: Stokes trusted him to finish the job.

Under the weight of expectation, Bashir bowled with astonishing composure. He found turn, drew the batters forward, and when he finally disturbed Mohammed Siraj’s stumps to seal victory, the crowd erupted. As his teammates charged in celebration, Stokes’s first instinct was not to revel in his own achievement, but to turn the spotlight onto his young player -- embracing him and praising his courage for delivering when it mattered most.

The message didn’t stop there. In their post-match interviews, Stokes, Joe Root and Brendon McCullum all spoke about Bashir’s mental and physical bravery in the face of intense scrutiny, making sure everyone understood how highly they valued him. It was as much a boost for Bashir’s self-confidence as it was a pointed message to the media to stop questioning a player who had proved he belonged on this stage.

This duality says everything about Stokes as a captain: for a returning champion like Archer, he draws on shared emotional wells to summon peak performance. For a newcomer like Bashir, he builds that confidence from scratch -- making even the least experienced players believe they can thrive on the biggest stage.

The Mentality Shift

Stokes has redefined what it means to play for England. Since taking on the captaincy in 2022, he has imprinted his competitive desire and unshakable belief onto the team, transforming them from a side riddled with fragility into one that expects to win, even under immense pressure.

It is a mentality shift reminiscent of what Imran Khan achieved with Pakistan in the late 1980s. Khan turned individual talent into collective resilience, forging a team that ultimately won the 1992 World Cup. Stokes is doing something similar -- embedding a culture where fearlessness and composure are the default settings, not exceptions.

In the late 1990s, Nasser Hussain inherited an England side dismissed as soft and directionless and languishing at the bottom of the Test rankings. Hussain brought steel and discipline, raising expectations and demanding a determination to fight through adversity. Under his leadership, England became harder to beat, more tactically astute, and began winning the tight battles. Hussain’s tenure is widely regarded as a cultural reset, paving the way for Michael Vaughan’s Ashes-winning side and the sustained success later achieved under Alastair Cook.

In the early 2000s, Sourav Ganguly took over an India team scarred by match-fixing scandals and weighed down by a reputation for underachievement abroad. Ganguly gave India a sharper, more combative edge, demanding his players stand toe-to-toe with Steve Waugh’s all-conquering Australia.

Under Ganguly, India started winning overseas, competed fearlessly in hostile conditions, and shed the inferiority complex that had long held them back. Many see his captaincy as the cultural and psychological turning point that laid the foundations for India’s rise as a global powerhouse and their sustained dominance in the modern era.

In football, Stokes evokes Bryan Robson’s captaincy of Manchester United in the years before the Ferguson era -- a talismanic leader whose relentless standards and unshakable self-belief began to rewire the team’s psyche. Robson demanded resilience from those around him and set a tone of competitiveness that transformed United from a drifting side into one with the foundations of future dominance.

Stokes stands in this lineage of transformational leaders. Like Hussain, he has given his team discipline and purpose. Like Ganguly, he has forged a culture of fearlessness and self-belief. And like Robson, he leads with an intensity and conviction that raises the standards of everyone around him. But Stokes has gone a step further: embedding a sense of freedom within that structure and teaching his players not just how to win, but how to believe they can win in any conditions, against any opposition.

What makes Stokes exceptional is how deeply rooted this transformation already feels. He has built England’s mentality on a foundation of shared experiences: the Headingley miracle in 2019, the World Cup final, overseas triumphs in Pakistan and New Zealand. These moments have created a collective memory of what it takes to get over the line. His players now understand, almost instinctively, the skills, temperament, and behaviours required to win under pressure.

A Legacy in the Making

That mindset was on display again at Lord’s -- not only in England’s performance but in their captain’s conduct. In the decisive final moments, Stokes offered a masterclass in leadership beyond tactics or statistics. As Shoaib Bashir bowled Mohammed Siraj to close out the match, Stokes let out a roar and punched the air, the release of five days of tension coursing through him as his teammates surged in celebration, swept up in the exhilaration, the noise of Lord’s rising around him like a wave.

But within 90 seconds, his attention shifted. Just metres away, Siraj -- England’s chief antagonist during a heated exchange the previous day -- was crouched low on the turf, head in his hands, overwhelmed by the sting of defeat. Without hesitation, Stokes broke away from the huddle and walked directly to Siraj, crouched down, placed a hand on his shoulder, and spoke words of admiration and consolation. The gesture was unmistakeable: here was a captain who understood the human cost of these contests. A few moments later, he embraced Ravindra Jadeja with the same calm respect, acknowledging the Indian all-rounder’s fight.

It was not theatre. It was not for the cameras. It was the kind of instinctive act that revealed why Stokes’s leadership resonates so deeply. Even in the immediate afterglow of a fractious, hard-won win, when lesser captains might still have been reliving the on-field tension, he chose empathy over enmity. He reminded everyone watching that cricket, at its best, is not just about runs and wickets -- it is about respect, shared struggle, and the bonds forged in battle.

If England convert this hard-fought series into victory on Indian soil and then reclaim the Ashes in Australia this December, Stokes’s place among cricket’s all-time great captains will be beyond dispute. But even without those milestones, he is building something rare: a team that is not only successful but also admired for its style and spirit.

There is a profound difference between captains who lead by fear and those who lead by trust. Stokes falls squarely into the latter category. His players are given freedom to express themselves, room to fail without fear of recrimination, and responsibility to step up in the moments that matter most. It is why they play with such evident joy and determination, why they fight for each other, and why even in defeat they often emerge with reputations enhanced.

One day, long after Stokes has stepped away from the game, scholars and leadership theorists will analyse how he reshaped a team once known for fragility into one defined by fearlessness. For now, though, we should simply savour the privilege of watching a generational leader at the height of his powers. In an era of fleeting triumphs, Stokes is building not just a team, but a legacy of courage and connection that may endure long after the final roar at Lord’s has faded.