England captain Ben Stokes was hoping to keep his nation’s unbeaten record against India at Edgbaston intact, but Shubman Gill’s men rose to the occasion and thumped the hosts to level the series 1-1 on Sunday. The match saw India score over 1000 runs before handing England a defeat by a big margin of 336 runs.
Analysing the result of the game, Ben Stokes admitted that he had never seen so many runs being scored at the venue before. Ben Stokes even called the Edgbaston surface a ‘subcontinent wicket’ that ended up aiding the Indian team more than it should have.India asserted complete control over the contest with dominant performances in both batting and bowling departments, leaving England playing catch-up right from the start.
The visitors were outclassed across all sessions and never truly managed to mount a challenge, trailing behind throughout the match and failing to match India’s intensity and execution.
Ben Stokes admits that failure to capitalize in the 1st Innings were the main cause of defeat
England captain Ben Stokes admitted that failing to capitalise on India’s precarious position at 211 for 5 in the first innings was a turning point in the match, as his team struggled to regain control under challenging conditions. Speaking after the loss, Ben Stokes mentioned that if England had managed to break through at that critical moment, the match might have taken a different direction.
“Tough one. Two moments. Having them at 200/5 and not being able to burst them open. And then being 80/5 in our reply to India’s big first innings, there is obviously going to be tough to be able to scrape it back from there,” he reflected.
Speaking to BBC’s Test Match Special after the game, Ben Stokes said that it became tougher for his team to score runs as the match went on, as the pitch suited the touring team more due to its ‘subcontinent’ nature.
“You look back at the start of the game, 200/5, if we were able to gets some wickets quicker, things could have been a little different. As the game got deeper and deeper, it sort of turned into a wicket, probably suited India more than us to be honest. Being 80/5 in reply to India’s big first innings total is obviously going to be tough from there,” Ben Stokes added.
England’s own batting difficulties in the first innings, where they were reduced to 84 for 5, left them struggling.
“We ran in and tried everything, we changed plans and when a team is on top of you, obviously India is a class team,” said Ben Stokes.
“It’s always very hard to wrestle back when the opposition is full of world-class performers. Shubman has had an unbelievable game with the bat. It is always tough, when you do spend time out in the field, your body is tired and mind is tired.”
Despite the defeat, the England skipper Ben Stokes praised wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith for his outstanding performance.
“It’s up to us individuals and as a team, try and get the best out of the situations. Jamie has been incredible since he came into the team, he has been exceptional with the bat and he goes massively into the radar with his wicket-keeping,” Ben Stokes said.
“Just shows that his natural game and the way him and Harry were able to wrestle the momentum back towards us, I thought it was very very special part of the game to watch from the dressing room.”
Looking ahead, Stokes emphasised the need to learn from this experience.
“Been another tough week, spend some time in the field and bowlers have run in hard all week again. We got to reset on everything and see where we end up come Lord’s,” Ben Stokes signed off.
With the next Test starting in only three days’ time, it would be interesting to see what sort of pitch the hosts prepare, considering the result in Birmingham. Â India on the other hand, whose chances were doubted after England’s fine win in Headingley last week, leave Birmingham with their first Test victory at Edgbaston at the ninth attempt.It also brilliantly sets up the remainder of the series, which continues at Lord’s on Thursday having a series levelled at 1-1.
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