Never was that more true than when he secured his place in English cricket history with an indefatigable batting display in the 2019 World Cup final.

Even though Joe Root and Stokes …

When Stokes realized that there were no fielders to stop the ball from reaching the boundary line, he ran immediately after his delivery and somehow chased down the ball and dived to save the boundary. He enjoyed a productive time at the 2009 Under-19 World Cup, scoring a century against India, before registering a maiden fifty on his first-class debut for Durham. He had satisfied them.Stokes, from the moment he made his Durham debut, felt very much a product of the northeast of England. The England all-rounder was at his best at Old Trafford and helped his side level the three-Test series with a superlative all-around performance. And it's true that Ben Stokes' combative nature, allied to his powerful frame and outrageous talent, lifted England to another level. Sam Curran hails Ben Stokes' fielding prowess after England all-rounder takes four stunning catches in second Test against South Africa. Yasir Shah celebrates the wicket of Ben Stokes on review Read about Ben Stokes's Profile, Latest News, Articles, Career updates only on ESPNcricinfo.com. But it was in 2011 that he really began to blossom.

If his performances with both the bat and ball weren’t enough, the 29-year-old showed just why he is arguably the best all-rounder of this generation with a brilliant fielding commitment.

Stokes missed the 2014 World Twenty20 in Bangladesh after reacting to a dismissal in Barbados by punching a dressing room locker and sustaining a broken wrist. 6. Playing yet again match winning game after last year's Headingly heroics 175 in the first innings, 78 in the second innings, breaks a 100 run partnership, fielding on the boundary while he’s bowling. Ben Stokes' brilliant fielding only highlight for England on a bad day for Joe Root's men in Sri Lanka Save Ben Stokes shows great reactions to make a catch Credit: AFP

His super effort mattered little as both the batsmen had already run four by then. The incident occurred in the 43rd over of West Indies’ innings on the final day of the second Test match. When the agony was all over, only Stokes returned to England as a star on the rise. Stokes first hit a century then took the all-important wicket of Kraigg Brathwaite to help England take a big first-innings lead. A few months later he produced a barnstorming 258 from 198 balls against South Africa in Cape Town - the fastest England double-hundred in history and the second fastest of all time - during a stand of 399 with Jonny Bairstow.Following his Kolkata nightmare, he nevertheless grew in stature within the side and was promoted to the vice-captaincy (at least until the Bristol episode).

He scored his maiden ODI hundred in Dhaka in late 2016 and added four more across international formats the following year, while also taking Test-best figures of 6 for 22 against West Indies at Lord's, becoming a key cog for England despite a chequered injury record.An IPL millionaire twice over - he was bought for £1.7m by Rising Pune Supergiant in 2017, winning tournament MVP, and then picked up for £1.4m the following season by Rajasthan Royals - Stokes was one of the most talked-about players in the world.

Celebrating an ODI victory in Bristol, Stokes became embroiled in a fight outside a club in the early hours of the morning that resulted in his arrest. AFP news.com.au July 13, 2020 8:30am

A broken finger hindered his bowling, but he played for England Lions and made his ODI debut against Ireland in Dublin, going on to play four times against India, albeit with limited impact.A first brush with the management was to follow, after being called up to the England Lions squad for the tour of Australia in early 2013. Stokes was bowling his eighth successive over with England needing six more wickets to level the series. England's fielding was poor again ... Our best slipper Ben Stokes dropped one at Old Trafford and Jos Butler had a shocker with the gloves.