Ben Stokes referred to India as a “beast” at home at the beginning of the series, and he brought up the subject once more after his team lost the series 4-1. Though “disappointed,” the England captain found comfort in the fact that they were “beaten by the better team.”
“I’m very disappointed, not only in myself but I’m disappointed for the team because of how much hard work has gone into this tour itself,” Stokes stated. “I’m not sure what other feelings you could have if you weren’t unhappy and upset with how the series finished.
“We had a lot of confidence and great expectations for what we might do here, and things went really well right away. “But losing the series 4-1 is obviously disappointing. I can speak for the team as a whole, but we have been thoroughly outplayed in the last four games,” Stokes stated in Dharamsala.
“In my opinion, the team that takes advantage of these possibilities and turns them into their own special moments will win the important games and moments. India was consistently able to regain the momentum whenever we were able to regain it with the ball or bat. Wins and losses in the Tests that followed the first one occurred there. Clearly, this is really disappointing. As the series progresses, I don’t reveal too much, but I’m always confident enough to admit that the superior squad defeated us.”
After a protracted five-Test series, Stokes conceded that the hosts were superior and that both India and England were playing according to their own styles of play.
“Both teams have played in two different ways. India has made the decision to stick to what has made them successful. We attempted it, but we were unable to carry it out as well as we would have liked. We had taken two early wickets in that session with the ball, two guys on a hundred, but they were able to establish a partnership that maintained their momentum. We were unable to create another indentation.
It’s ensuring that, both as a team and as players, we remain loyal to who we are. It’s understanding that taking chances might occasionally lead to your demise, but it’s OK to take these chances if there’s a good reason they don’t exactly work out. Cricket is a hard game that may consume you, but on this specific tour, there is always a player who has the potential to take you wrong or improve you as a player. I’ve now done several excursions around India. Although my performance on the squad has plainly disappointed me, write this team and me off at your own risk.”
Stokes reaffirmed trust in England’s tactics and stated that the series loss shouldn’t diminish the accomplishments he and Brendon McCullum had in the past.
“I believe we’ve done a great job on many fronts. Considering how successful we have been, we have kept up our current approach. For us, nothing we’ve accomplished before to this tour should be impacted by this series. This is the first time this squad has been essentially dominated the whole game, especially in the previous four games. This will serve as motivation for us to improve as a team. We’ll draw inspiration from it to improve as players. We approach things with that mindset.
The term Bazball in the media makes people wonder, “What is it?” It’s the desire, in my opinion, to improve as a player. Hopefully, Bazball will motivate individuals to overcome setbacks and disappointments and improve even further than we have already.”
In keeping with his character, Stokes stated that he is already anticipating the future and will put the lessons he learned from this loss to use when the time comes.
“Sports teams can learn a lot from failure,” Stokes remarked. “You either allow disappointment and failure to consume you and bring you to your knees, and you never manage to climb back up again. However, you make sure you don’t lose your excitement for what you do and you learn from your mistakes. There will be six home Test matches in the upcoming summer, followed by matches against Pakistan and New Zealand, so there will be a plenty of cricket to play in the upcoming year.
“Zak and Ben Duckett continuing to play at the top of the order for us throughout the summer is a positive that we can draw from this series. Their record could be comparable to that of the greatest England openers, but I’m not sure. Tom Hartley, who had to assume the role of main spinner following Jack Leach’s untimely injury, and Shoaib Bashir, who we’ve discovered, have both been exceptional.
“If Jack hadn’t been injured, he might not have had the opportunities on this tour, but it’s encouraging for England in all three formats that someone with his level of inexperience can step in and make the kind of impact he has.” From a personal standpoint, it’s amazing to be back out bowling and participating in the battle like that. Rooty has been returning to the form we know he is about over the last two games.”
