Ben Stokes reveals he issued an apology to his team-mates after letting his emotions ‘show’ after England’s two costly mistakes in second Test defeat to Pakistan

England captain Ben Stokes has admitted that he apologised to his team for letting his frustration show following dropped catches in their defeat to Pakistan.

Pakistan levelled the Test series in Multan, beating England by 152 runs, to set up a mouth-watering decider in Rawalpindi next week.

In the midst of the host’s second innings, with the Test perfectly poised, both Jamie Smith and Joe Root dropped big chances in the space of three deliveries.

After the missed opportunities, Stokes showed both anguish and frustration in the knowledge of the impact the chances would have on the Test.

After the match, Stokes revealed that he is disappointed with how he acted. ‘I actually apologised to the group up there last night,’ the England captain told Sky Sports.

Pakistan whittled out England for 144 to beat the visitors by 152 runs and level up the series

England wicketkeeper Jamie Smith dropped a simple chance off the bowling of Brydon Carse on day three

‘It’s the first time in my captaincy that I have let my emotions with the (way the) game was unfolding show in my body language.

‘I owned up to that and I am very annoyed at myself for letting that out. It’s something that I don’t want to do or be seen to be doing.

‘I apologised and said it was “poor old me” coming out, tired grumpy old man last night. You won’t see that happening again.’

Pakistan held a lead of 197 with five wickets in hand when Salman Agha edged the ball off Brydon Carse’s bowling, with Smith set to take a run-of-the-mill catch.

However, the talented wicketkeeper dropped it, and only two balls later Root repeated the feat off Carse’s bowling again.

The hosts went to notch up a lead of 296 before being bowled out, setting England a score that they have never managed to hunt down in Asia.

The visitors where then whittled out for just 144 runs, with Stokes notching up 37 of them – the best score within England’s innings.

Joe Root also put down a huge – but tougher – chance at slip, much to Carse’s dismay

Carse was England’s most threatening seamer but was let down by the side’s fielding

In hindsight, Stokes knows that the two missed catches on day three could have changed everything.

‘No one means to drop catches,’ he continued. ‘But it shows just how important catches are in these subcontinent conditions. They don’t come along that often.’