PAK vs ENG: Ben Stokes apologises to team for emotional outburst following England's loss

England's captain, Ben Stokes, has publicly apologized to his team for showing frustration during the second Test match against Pakistan in Multan. 

This incident happened when England lost control of the game due to poor fielding and dropped catches, which led to a significant defeat by 152 runs.

In this second Test of the three-match series, Pakistan's victory leveled the series at 1-1. It was a notable win for the team as it marked their first Test victory at home since 2021. The Pakistan Cricket Board made significant changes to the squad after their loss in the first Test, dropping key players like Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, and Naseem Shah.

Pakistan started strong after winning the toss and choosing to bat first. They scored an impressive 366 runs in their first innings, highlighted by a century from debutant Kamran Ghulam, along with valuable contributions from Saim Ayub and Mohammad Rizwan. England struggled in response, with only Ben Duckett managing to score a century.

The turning point of the match occurred during Pakistan's second innings, where England's dropped catches and fielding mistakes allowed the hosts to set a target of 296 runs. Stokes' frustration became clear during this phase, particularly after two dropped catches off Brydon Carse's bowling and a misfield by Jack Leach. Recently returning from a nine-week absence due to a hamstring injury, Stokes admitted to his emotional outburst.

"I actually apologised to the group up there last night. It's the first time in my captaincy that I've let my emotions show in my body language, with how I was feeling as the game was unfolding. I owned up to that, and I'm very annoyed at myself for letting that out. It's something that I don't want to do or be seen to be doing. No one means to drop catches, but it just proves how important catches are out in these subcontinent conditions because they don't come along that often. So I apologised to the group and said that was poor of me. I was a tired and grumpy old man last night. You won't see that happen again," Stokes said.

England's head coach, Brendon McCullum, expressed surprise at Stokes' apology but praised his passion for the team. He acknowledged Stokes' determination to return from injury and perform well in difficult conditions.

"I was a bit surprised, but we all know how passionate Ben is, and how much it means to him to play for England. We've seen that through his bloody-mindedness to get back from the injury, which was significant, and to do so in a nine-week timeframe, and in extreme conditions of 40 degrees," McCullum said.