England suffered their first series defeat under captain Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, as India defeated them 4-1 in the five-match series, highlighted by an innings and 64-run loss in the fifth and final Test at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on Saturday.
The bright spot for England in this Test was James Anderson completing his 700 Test wickets, becoming the first pacer to this milestone. Joe Root also did well with the bat despite England getting bundled out for 195 in the second innings and losing the fifth Test by an innings and 64 runs.
England skipper Ben Stokes after the match accepted that India was the better side. He was critical of England’s approach to playing the Indian spinners.
“We have been outplayed by the better team of the series. We got so much cricket coming up, so looking forward to it. When you look at the series as a whole, in those small moments we haven’t been able to keep it going.
We all know as individuals as to where it all went wrong. When India got on top with the ball a lot of men come around the bat and you got to find ways to keep those guys out of play and you need to be positive enough to take those risks and sometimes it could lead to downfall,” Stokes said in the post-match presentation.
England, led by Stokes and McCullum, is well-known around the world for its attacking style of cricket, which the English media called 'Bazball'. All of that came undone as batters were left chasing shadows with their bats, presumably battling demons on a pitch devoid of any.
Stokes though counted the positives from the series, naming Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Sohaib Bashir, Tom Hartley, and Joe Root for shinning with their performances with bat and ball.
“Crawley and Duckett continuing their partnership at the top and Bashir and Hartley have been really exceptional the whole series and Root coming into form at the backend is really exciting ahead of our summer,” Stokes said.
Stokes also had a special mention for James Anderson, who reached the milestone of 700 Test wickets.
“Amazing to be on the field with Jimmy. 700 wickets for a seamer is quite phenomenal, from the day he first started being a cricketer to where he is now, the desire and commitment is still there and he is the fittest cricketer I have ever seen,” the England captain added.
(ANI inputs)
