England under the charismatic leadership of captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum landed in India for the first series in the New Year of 2024 on Indian soil. A dream which England saw under the leadership of Ben Stokes and the management when the test series started on 25th January 2024 was to win a series in India which was their final frontier since 2012, the last time they won the series in the subcontinent and buoyed by the recent success in Pakistan, the English team was confident of it under similar conditions.
England under Ben Stokes started the series with a bang eclipsing Rohit Sharma and his team in the first test at Hyderabad by 28 runs thanks to the magnificent innings by middle order batter Ollie Pope(196) and a 7 wicket haul by debutant spinner Tom Hartley to go 1-0 up in a 5 match series and giving serious concerns to India who without their main players started wondering how to stage a comeback.
However India bounced back to winning ways against England, sealing a 106-run victory on Day 4 of the second Test match in Vizag in the second test match .
The win saw the hosts level the series 1-1 as the visitors wrapped up for 292 in their 399-run chase. With England continuing with their Bazball approach towards the target, it was evident that it was a matter of time that English batters would hand the Indian’s their wickets. With most were taken by disciplined bowling by India some wickets like skipper Ben Stokes and Joe Root’s became the talking and meme material.
With the test series tied at 1-1 and a 10 day gap between the third test at Rajkot, England under Ben Stokes decided to go to Abu Dhabi for some holidays and having a hand on the golf course but was confident that their team with a Bazball technique approach could stage a lead at Rajkot.
England’s recent success under talismanic captainship of Ben Stokes
Ben Stokes aggressive approach to captaincy may have failed to claim victory in a hard-fought second Test but the five-match series against India is still wide open at 1-1. Much of England’s success has been attributed to Bazball – the desire to score quickly and tactically rattle the opposition – but this is a misnomer. What Ben Stokes has really done is set out to achieve victory from ball one by playing aggressive cricket in all aspects of the game.
Ben Stokes has been extremely smart to adopt such an approach and his aggressive tactics have brought England great success in the win column. It’s an approach that England were extremely slow to adopt but Stokes has shown himself to be a strong-minded and smart leader.
The England team has great belief in Ben Stokes and it shows both on and off the field. The team takes wickets because they are continually looking for them, and this challenge is accepted by the bowlers. One of the great benefits of this strategy is that it enthuses the best players, and they are the ones most likely to affect the final result.
The team also believe that Ben Stokes’ aggression will help them claim the odd unexpected success. This belief is what generally leads to a team producing something extra that leads to a vital wicket. Stokes’ brilliance in the field helped him produce a run-out at a crucial time in Hyderabad – and it also helped increase team belief.
Ben Stokes’ attitude has helped the younger players believe in themselves, and this is showing in their bowling performances. The success of young players Tom Hartley, Rehan Ahmed and Shoaib Bashir is no fluke; it epitomizes the confidence instilled by Stokes’ approach. Hartley’s success with both bat and ball should make the limited Jack Leach redundant in the Test side. One of England’s weaknesses has been their spin department, but Stokes’ positive approach suddenly means that slow bowling has a number of candidates.
The success of Ollie Pope at No. 3 and the ascent of Harry Brook as a vital middle-order player also means the batting is potentially much stronger.
These marked improvements in talent should ensure that in future England pick their strongest available team for the prevailing conditions. England have erred in the past by not picking their best wicketkeeper and by often shunning the value of extra pace. Injuries to fast bowlers aside, this should be a thing of the past.
It will help England enormously if Stokes is once again able to function as an allrounder, as his bowling is a distinct weapon. It would also help if he fielded in the slips, especially to the spinners, as he is one of the best in that position. The other area where England could improve is in their use of the bouncer. It’s often an overused ploy, and it must be remembered that the biggest advantage of the bouncer is the element of surprise.
One personal area Stokes could look at is his own batting. If he were more proactive at the start of each innings, it would improve his play. Stokes is a very good batter but he’s at his best when he’s looking to score. With all such qualities from skipper Ben Stokes certainly raises hopes for England’s comeback in the remainder of the test series versus India.
However all this talk of Bazball succession in India came to a stuttering halt at Rajkot as India powered by dazzling double century by Yashaswi Jaiswal and an effective all round show by local boy Ravindra Jadeja which included a century and a fifer inflicted a 434 runs defeat on Ben Stokes led Bazball inspired English side .This defeat the second highest in terms of runs for England and a 2-1 lead for India has now pushed Ben Stokes to the back mentally who will now seriously think about the aspect of his bowling too in the further 2 test matches.
Ben Stokes hints at bowling in the 4th test post 434 runs drubbing to England at Rajkot.
England skipper Ben Stokes has strongly hinted at bowling in the fourth Test against India as the visitors find themselves under pressure after losing heavily in Rajkot. The seam-bowling all-rounder revealed that his knee condition has progressed a lot more quickly than he thought.
Stokes hasn’t bowled in the three Tests of the ongoing series and was unlikely to do so, having undergone surgery recently for his dodgy knee. However, the 32-year-old might need to do it, given the inexperience of England’s bowling attack.
Speaking to the media after England’s 434-run loss in the third Test on February 18, the star cricketer said he wanted to bowl in Rajkot. But he admitted it would have been risky, saying, as quoted by Sky Sports:
“I have managed to get my first bowl at 100 per cent in the warm-up. I’m not going to lie, I feel really great. I felt like I could have bowled in this game but that would have been stupid.”As a person I like to jump the gun a little bit but things are feeling really good. I have a whole body to get used to bowling again. It’s not a yes – but it’s not a no either. I have progressed a lot faster than I thought I would.”
The Durham all-rounder has decent numbers with the ball, taking 197 wickets in 100 Tests at 32.07. However, he last bowled in professional cricket during the Lord’s Test of the 2023 Ashes series.
Ben Stokes on upcoming 2 tests vs India.
Ben Stokes believes England must learn from their disappointment instead of letting it consume them. He said after the third Test of the series:
“Losing games for England isn’t where you want to be but games are won or lost in the head. You’ve got to learn from disappointment but use it in a positive way, not let it eat you. I know that thinking too deep into certain things can send you on a downhill spiral. It’s about what we do the next two games.”
Ben Stokes, England’s captain, has promised that his team will park the disappointment of their crushing 434-run loss in the third Test in Rajkot, and move onto Ranchi later this week fully focused on bouncing back to claim a 3-2 series victory. England need to win the last two Tests to clinch the series, with India leading the five-match series 2-1. It will be interesting to see if they make changes to their playing XI for the fourth Test against India, which will start on February 23.