Cricket | World’s Best Cricketers and Rivals Team Up for a Batting Challenge Across Lakes, Trucks, and Floating Targets

England’s Ben Stokes Joins Forces with India’s KL Rahul on a Target-Hitting Playground That Tests the Limits of Cricketing Precision.

Cricket Challenges with Ben Stokes and KL Rahul in Mumbai India

With the England vs India Test Series fast approaching, beginning at Headingley, Leeds, on 20 June, England captain Ben Stokes and India’s wicket-keeper-batter KL Rahul are already wielding their bats – but not on the pitch.

Instead of squaring off on the square in a stadium, the two cricketing giants teamed up for the Ultimate Cricket Challenge, a strikingly original event that traded in traditional matchplay for inventive batting trials, and turned two of the sport’s biggest competitors into teammates in a high-stakes test of skill, accuracy, and batting precision. Watch the video on YouTube.

• Unexpected Teammates: Usually on opposite sides of the pitch, England’s Ben Stokes and India’s KL Rahul teamed up for an innovative challenge that redefined their traditional rivalry dynamic.
• Inventive Arenas: This was far from a typical cricket setting. From the back of an 18-wheeler truck to a pitch floating on a lake, and culminating in a drone-assisted finale, the event challenged players to adapt quickly to unpredictable environments where control and improvisation were paramount.
• Elite Batting Skills: With no standard field, runs, or bowlers, the challenges called for pinpoint accuracy, lightning-fast reactions, and raw hitting power.
• Shared Pressure, Shared Success: Despite the competitive edge, moments of camaraderie stood out, offering a glimpse of mutual respect between two players more used to facing off than joining forces.

Deep Dive:

Traditionally, cricket is played on a flat, grassy oval where a batter faces a bowler delivering balls at high speed. The goal is to score runs while defending a set of stumps - three vertical posts behind them known collectively as the wicket. It's a game of intense strategy, technical skill, and precision, played under set rules, conditions, and in historic stadiums around the world.

The Ultimate Cricket Challenge turned that centuries-old format on its head - bringing world-class athletes into new settings like trucks, lakes, and enclosed arenas, where the goal wasn’t just runs, but target destruction, coordination, and total improvisation.

Perched atop an 18-wheel articulated truck, KL Rahul faced the first task: using the power of his shots to move the vehicle forward over a 500-metre course. Armed with just eight deliveries from a bowling machine and no margin for error, the Indian batter brought his signature timing and control to an entirely unfamiliar stage.

Widely regarded as one of the finest batsmen in the modern game, Rahul has spent over a decade representing India on every surface and under every pressure. But striking from the roof of a moving truck was a first, even for him.

Next came Ben Stokes, standing on a floating pitch in the middle of a lake. His mission: hit six floating targets using balls that had to be lofted high and dropped from above to register a hit. Known for his 360-degree power hitting and ability to deliver under pressure, Stokes deployed his trademark ingenuity, launching balls in steep arcs to land flush on target.

The two stars then joined forces in an enclosed escape room-style arena where timing, reflexes, and teamwork were critical. From dealing with unpredictable ball deliveries to demonstrating their reactive hand-eye coordination to pitches made of varying surfaces, the pair had to adapt rapidly to complete the task and earn their exit from each of the four uniquely designed rooms.

Their final challenge - dubbed the “Final Boss” - pitted them against a swarm of moving targets, including one suspended from a drone and swinging laterally in the air. With every wave of pitch invaders, Rahul and Stokes had to coordinate their shots and cover each other’s blind spots, hitting with precision and tempo until the last target was smashed.

Despite both being far outside their comfort zones, they passed each test with skill and composure, transforming from adversaries into allies in a sporting spectacle that was as eccentric as it was elite.

“With each station and each challenge, this project kept hitting me and Ben with something harder,” said KL Rahul. “I knew that if the pressure is on, and you need anyone in the world in your team, it would be Ben Stokes; so I was happy to have him, and he made the challenges a lot easier.”

KL Rahul and Ben Stokes seen during the Cricket Challenges in Mumbai India

Ben Stokes added: “I had no idea what we were going to be doing, so that was a real nice surprise. Red Bull has an amazing ability to be able to add the fun and eccentric side of what their brand is all about. It was cool to be able to share a day [with KL Rahul], and get some content together, something that we don’t really get to do that often.”

Veteran broadcaster and former England captain Nasser Hussain, who witnessed the action firsthand, summed it up: “It was completely different. Not often you are batting in a lake or on a runway. When you get an Indian cricketer and an English cricketer, and there is an iconic series coming up, one thing you will never change is the competition between the two."

Hussain continued: "They were hitting that final target for ages, no one could get it, and then I think KL hit it first and Ben was genuinely thrilled for him that he’d hit that target, so there is that competition, but they also enjoy each other’s success.”

From lake pitches to drone-mounted targets, the Ultimate Cricket Challenge reimagined cricket at its most unfiltered, eccentric, and entertaining. And with the real battle set to resume at Headingley, fans now know one thing for sure: Ben Stokes and KL Rahul are more than ready.

Watch Ben Stokes and KL Rahul take on the Ultimate Cricket Challenge HERE