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Former India captain Ajay Jadeja has backed Ben Stokes’ decision to retire from international cricket, saying the England all-rounder made the “right call” and suggesting the decision reflected his unwillingness to let people outside the dressing room dictate how he should live his life. Stokes announced his retirement after one of the most decorated careers in English cricket, bringing the curtain down on a journey that included match-winning performances in the 2019 ODI World Cup final, the unforgettable Headingley Ashes Test later that year, and several other memorable moments across formats. Reacting to the announcement on Sony Sports, Jadeja said he admired Stokes for standing by his principles. “I think he made the right call, and I’ll go one step further. Especially for a country’s cricket team captain to be told what he can do in the evening and what he can’t, there are some people who can take it, but geniuses like him are not going to be ruled by people who are not on the field.” Jadeja added that he would have understood if such instructions had come from within the team setup, but not from administrators. “If there are people in the dressing room wanting you to do something, that is a different story. But when people running the game try and tell you how to live your life and what to do, I am very happy. Not happy that he’s going to retire and we won’t see him play, but here is a man who said, ‘OK, this is it.’ He has been a controversial man. He played controversially.” Stokes’ retirement came less than three weeks after he was involved in an off-field controversy following England’s victory in the first Test against New Zealand. Stokes and Gus Atkinson breached the team’s midnight curfew and were reportedly present during an incident at a London nightclub involving an ECB security staff member and a Saracens rugby player. The ECB subsequently made both players unavailable for the second Test while an investigation by the Cricket Regulator was conducted, with Joe Root stepping in as stand-in captain. However, the Cricket Regulator later found insufficient evidence to establish any breach of ECB Cricket Regulations and cleared both players. The ECB also stated that no blame should be attached to either player for the violent incident, confirming that Stokes was not involved in or witness the altercation, while Atkinson was the victim of unprovoked attacks and did not retaliate. Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar, meanwhile, admitted he was saddened by Stokes’ retirement, describing it as the end of an era. “It’s depressing for me on the count that two retirements of two all-time greats, Kane Williamson and Ben Stokes, and the surprising timing of the retirements as well.” Manjrekar said Stokes’ greatness could never be measured solely by numbers. “Ben Stokes, I maintained that this is not the guy who will average 50 or get 600 wickets, but he had this unique ability to perform greatness on the big stage and almost single-handedly win games for his country, whether it was Tests, ODIs or T20Is.” He believes that quality will define Stokes’ place in cricket history. “That is the legacy he will leave, and I am feeling very unhappy. People that we worship and love to watch, we won’t be seeing them anymore.” One of England’s greatest all-rounders, Stokes played defining roles in some of the country’s biggest triumphs, including his unbeaten 84 in the 2019 ODI World Cup final against New Zealand, his extraordinary 135 not out at Headingley during the Ashes later that summer, and his career-best Test score of 258 against South Africa in Cape Town in 2016.