England’s 4-1 series defeat to India was a result of being outplayed by the superior team, according to captain Ben Stokes. Despite winning the first Test, England struggled to maintain momentum and were outclassed in the subsequent matches.
In the final Test in Dharamsala, England faced a first-innings deficit of 259 and were bowled out for 195 in their second, resulting in an innings and 64-run defeat. R Ashwin’s five-wicket haul in the second innings sealed the victory for India, who had earlier posted an imposing 477 thanks to centuries from Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma.
Stokes acknowledged England’s shortcomings, stating that they had been “outplayed by the better team in the series.” However, he emphasized the importance of taking positives from the experience and looking ahead to future challenges.
“We’ve got so much cricket coming up in our summer, and then Pakistan and New Zealand,” Stokes said. “Taking the positives that we’ve got from the series is something that I’m really looking forward to. I’m excited to be a part of driving this team even further forward.”
Despite the disappointing result, Stokes remained committed to England’s aggressive “Bazball” approach. He believes that the team’s intent and application were evident, even if the results did not always follow.
“When you look at the game as a whole, and the series as a whole, there’s been really small moments throughout every Test match where we wrestled a bit of momentum back towards us, but we’ve not just been able to maintain and keep that going,” Stokes said.
“And in Test-match cricket, especially out here where the game can turn really fast on you, it’s about understanding that and trying to understand those moments and being a bit more relentless with it.”
Stokes also highlighted the contributions of several young players, including spinner Shoaib Bashir, who took his second five-wicket haul in as many Tests. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett continued to develop their partnership at the top of the batting order, while veteran James Anderson reached the milestone of 700 Test wickets.
“I’ve been lucky enough to be on the field with some of the lads there, the milestones that Jimmy’s got to, but being there for 700 wickets as a seamer, it is quite phenomenal,” Stokes said.
“Everything that he has done from the day he first started being a cricketer, let alone international cricketer, to where he is now … 41 years old, he’s as fit as I’ve ever seen him, and I honestly just don’t know when he’s going to stop, because the desire to commit is still there. It’s great to watch.”
