Virat Kohli's massive praise for Ben Stokes after his unbelievable century vs Australia at the Lord's

Ben Stokes hammered 155 runs with 9 sixes and 9 fours as England fell 43 runs short of 371-run target.

Former India captain Virat Kohli lauded England skipper Ben Stokes after his special fourth innings knock in the second Ashes 2023 Test at the Lord’s, which almost gave the hosts an unthinkable win, though Australia prevailed by 43 runs to go 2-0 up in the five-match series.

On the fifth day, Stokes played an outstanding captain's knock that helped England reach the tough mark of 371 runs that Australia had set at Lord's. He launched an aggressive assault on the Australian bowlers, pummeling them mercilessly. Stuart Broad at the other end helped Stokes get to his 13th Test century quickly.

He added 108 runs with Broad for the 9th wicket, with Broad only making 11 runs in the partnership. But England fans’ hopes of a replay of Stokes’ Headingley knock were not to be as Josh Hazlewood brought an end to his innings in the 73rd over, as the English skipper's attempted hook shot resulted in a top-edge caught safely by wicket-keeper Alex Carey.

Nevertheless, after Stokes' departure, England managed to add only 27 more runs before being dismissed, falling short by 43 runs at Lord's.

I wasn't joking about it: Virat Kohli

Reacting to Ben Stokes’ brilliant knock, many of the former and current cricketers reacted on social media to laud the England captain almost giving the Australians a heart attack and one of them was Virat Kohli.

Kohli, who was captain when India had taken a 2-1 lead over England in the 2021 Test series in England, lauded the English all-rounder on Twitter, calling him the most competitive cricketer he has played against.

“I wasn’t joking about calling Ben Stokes the most competitive bloke I’ve played against. Innings of the highest quality but Australia is too good at the moment,” Kohli tweeted.

The third Test between England and Australia will begin on July 6 onwards at the Headingley, Leeds with the hosts trying to win and keep Australia from retaining the Ashes urn.