As England suffered their first Test series loss in the ‘Bazball’ era on Monday, skipper Ben Stokes dismissed allegations that his squad lacked ruthlessness in their approach against India.
The visitors had an outstanding victory in the first game of the series, but they have lost three straight games to fall down 1-3 with one game left. Since Ben Stokes and Brendan McCullum took over in mid-2022, this was England’s first series defeat.
India overcame 177/7 to put up 307, but England lost badly in their second inning, collapsing from 110/3 to 145 all out, costing them heavily in an attempt to level the series. Since Stokes took over as permanent Test captain, England have won 13 of their previous 18 Test matches prior to the India series.
“It can be a throwaway comment when people say we’re not ruthless enough”- Ben Stokes
England’s recent defeat in Ranchi was especially disheartening given their commanding position and their 176-run lead in the first innings with India seven wickets down.
A clearly irritated Stokes responded, when asked if England lacked ruthlessness, at the news conference:
“Ruthlessness? What is it? How does it show itself? Everyone goes into the game with their best intentions; when it doesn’t pay off, people say we’re not ruthless, when it does, they say we are. I don’t really understand it. That’s from my point of view; we try to do what we think is the best way to win a game. It can be a throwaway comment when people say we’re not ruthless enough. What does it mean?”
“This is the first we have lost, but we will be involved in plenty more series going forward” – Ben Stokes
Ben Stokes maintained composure in the face of heartbreak following the team’s maiden test loss since joining forces with head coach Brendon McCullum by considering the several forthcoming series the team will participate in.
Ben Stokes took over as captain from Joe Root, and England’s ‘Bazball’ style has resulted in victories over New Zealand, South Africa, and Pakistan. England fought back to even the Ashes series 2-2 in the previous year’s edition as well.
“Obviously we want to win every game we play, and win every series. This is the first we have lost, but we will be involved in plenty more series going forward. It’s always disappointing being on the losing team. Looking back at when we had our chance to bat yesterday, cricket is always skill against skill,” Stokes expressed.
Following their most recent loss, England’s World Test Championship (WTC) standings are poorly low-seventh with a sub-20 percentage point.
Because of this, even though the series result is already determined, winning the last test against India in Dharamsala, which begins on March 7, becomes crucial for the team to move up the WTC table.