Garnish is pointless! - Stokes mocks Manjrekar's chef analogy

England all-rounder Ben Stokes has mocked former India star Sanjay Manjrekar's claims that he merely adds "the garnish" to the Test team.

Ben Stokes has laughed off Sanjay Manjrekar's claims that he is taking all the credit for the work of his England team-mates.

Ben Stokes has laughed off Sanjay Manjrekar's claims that he is taking all the credit for the work of his England team-mates.

England defeated India 4-1 earlier in the year and then completed a historic 3-0 clean sweep in Sri Lanka, bouncing back impressively from a 4-0 Ashes drubbing and a series defeat in New Zealand - the first of which Stokes missed following an incident outside a Bristol nightclub in September 2017.

Stokes has played a key role since returning to the side and head coach Trevor Bayliss said the "exemplary" Durham all-rounder is "the first pick" on the team sheet in his eyes.

Yet Manjrekar, who played 37 Tests and 74 ODIs for India, appears to feel Stokes is being given too much credit, posting an analogy on Twitter that compared the 27-year-old unfavourably with "hardworking chefs" Moeen Ali, Jack Leach and Ben Foakes.

So you have these hardworking chefs who have made a great dish. Someone comes and puts a little garnish on top and he gets all the credit. Moeen, Leach, Foakes are those poor chefs and Stokes the one with the garnish.

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) November 28, 2018

 

"So you have these hardworking chefs who have made a great dish," Manjrekar wrote. "Someone comes and puts a little garnish on top and he gets all the credit.

"Moeen, Leach, Foakes are those poor chefs and Stokes the one with the garnish."

We don't care about personal credit,and garnish is pointless on all food anyways,we care about winning,it's a team sport and we won as a team #3-0 Cheers Sanjay https://t.co/4oVhPVm1d5

— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) November 28, 2018

 

But Stokes was swift to respond, replying with a snoring emoji: "We don't care about personal credit - and garnish is pointless on all food anyway. We care about winning.

"It's a team sport and we won as a team. 3-0. Cheers Sanjay."

Stokes is due to face a disciplinary hearing with the England and Wales Cricket Board next month, despite having been acquitted of an affray charge in court in August.