Series draw a fair result after going toe-to-toe for 25 days, says England captain Stokes
England captain Ben Stokes lauded India’s efforts in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy and admitted that 2-2 was probably a fair outcome after a compelling Test series.
“The series as a whole, even before this game, was just all four games going to five days. It’s been toe-to-toe for 25 days. Two very good teams who have thrown everything at each other, leaving nothing out there. So, I guess from a cricket fan’s point of view, 2-2 is probably fair,” Stokes said on Monday.
“We are disappointed to have not got the result that we wanted, to give us a series win. There’s that disappointment, a little bit of frustration as well from everyone…” said the England skipper, who missed the final Test due to a shoulder injury.
Stokes also opined that such a close series is a huge boost to the longest format of the game. “As a massive advocate of this format, this has certainly been one of those series that can hopefully keep away the narrative around that Test cricket is dying,” he said, adding: “We are disappointed from obviously a playing point of view, but the series has been fantastic to be part of,” he added.
Despite losing a couple of early wickets in the fourth innings, England remained in the game, pursuing a challenging total of 374, as Harry Brook and Joe Root scored centuries. They shared a 195-run fourth-wicket stand, putting the hosts in firm control at one point in time.
“Obviously, 380 (374) was a huge total to try and chase down, but as the game got deeper and deeper, the way that the wicket was playing completely changed from Day 1 and Day 2, so we knew that if any of our lads were to get in, then that was going to give us a good chance.
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“Harry got us into that position by playing in a particular way, putting the Indian bowlers under immense pressure to take them away from being able to consistently bowl the areas that they wanted to bowl,” Stokes said.
The England captain also lauded Chris Woakes, who walked out to bat at No.11 despite carrying a shoulder injury. “It’s unbelievable, but it was never going to be a question for him to go out there. He was in a lot of discomfort, even running between the wickets there.
“We’ve had guys go out, Rishabh [Pant] going out and batting with a broken foot. We’ve had Bash [Shoaib Bashir] going out there bowling, batting and fielding with a broken finger. Then we’ve had Chris go out there today and try to get his team over the line with a quite recently dislocated shoulder. Again, that just goes back to how much energy and effort have been put into the series by both teams…”
