Australia to unleash their Virat Kohli-era tactic on Ben Stokes as Ashes mind games take familiar turn

Australia long avoided provoking Virat Kohli, and are now set to use the same approach against England captain Ben Stokes ahead of the Ashes opener in Perth.

If there was one rule Australia followed without fail during Virat Kohli’s peak Test years, it was to avoid taunting him — “don’t poke the bear.” And now, the Aussies are preparing to use the same blueprint against England captain Ben Stokes when the much-anticipated Ashes series begins on Friday in Perth.

Ashes 2025/26 series will get underway on Friday

Addressing the media at the Optus Stadium, Australia’s acting skipper Steve Smith explained that their series-long strategy will be to keep Stokes under control, aware that provoking him has often backfired in the past.

“I think he’s done a terrific job with England over the past couple of years,” Smith said on Thursday.

“The style they play suits them, led by him and Baz [Brendon McCullum] obviously, so he’s done a great job and [is] potentially someone you don’t want to get too riled up.

“He’s had a few performances against us where he’s either taken the game from us or clawed it back. Hopefully, we can keep him quiet.”

This isn’t the first time Australia have acknowledged this tactic. Earlier, former opener David Warner, who has faced Stokes in countless Ashes battles, had raised the same point.

“If we can sort of not poke that bear and get him up and about, I think that will help the Australians enormously,” Warner said.

In fact, one incident involving Warner stands out, a moment Stokes recounts in his book On Fire: My Story of England’s Summer to Remember. On the eve of that epic Headingley knock in 2019, Stokes learned that Warner had made a remark about his criminal trial related to the Bristol nightclub incident. What followed became the ‘Miracle of Headingley’.

England pulled off one of their greatest-ever Test run chases, hunting down 359 after being bowled out for just 67 in the first innings. Reduced to 268 for nine with the Ashes slipping away, Stokes found an unlikely partner in Jack Leach to drag England home. The innings was later voted the most memorable Men’s Ashes moment since 2010 in an ECB fans’ poll.

Besides Warner, England opener Ben Duckett had also spoken about wanting the Aussies to rile up Stokes. He had told The Grade Cricketer podcast: “I’m quite enjoying it, I want the Aussies to keep poking Stokesy. It works well in Ashes series when they fire him up, so yeah I think they should keep going.”