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.
Nothing changed in next 3 tests with England staring a defeat in the fifth test at Dharamshala , what was pleasing to the eyes was that Ben Stokes finally bowled for England and even clean bowled centurion Rohit Sharma on his first ball post injury which left everyone amazed.
Ben Stokes clean bowling Rohit Sharma triggers ‘laughter’ in England dressing room
Ben Stokes picked a wicket off his first delivery in nine months as he dismissed Indian captain Rohit Sharma on Day 2 of the Dharamsala Test.
Ben Stokes conjured up a spellbinding moment during Day 2 of the final Test of the series against India in Dharamsala. In his very first competitive delivery in nine months, Stokes dismissed his counterpart Rohit Sharma, who had been going strong at 103 at the time. After a lackluster morning session for England, Stokes, who had refrained from bowling due to a knee injury and subsequent surgery, decided to test his arm.
The decision proved to be a masterstroke. With Rohit already notching his second century of the series, Stokes’ peach of a delivery, seaming away just enough from a good length, found the Indian captain’s off-stump. English skipper Ben Stokes finally took the ball after so many months post injury to send centurion Rohit Sharma on his first ball after injury making Steven Finn , the former pace bowler wonder why Ben Stokes didn’t bowled earlier.
Steven Finn on Ben Stokes bowling post knee injury
Former English cricketer Steven Finn believes Ben Stokes knee surgery hasn’t affected his bowling negatively. The Middlesex reckons that Ben Stokes return to bowling bodes extremely well for England’s future.
Ben Stokes conjured up a spellbinding moment during Day 2 of the final Test of the series against India in Dharamsala. In his very first competitive delivery in nine months, Stokes dismissed his counterpart Rohit Sharma, who had been going strong at 103 at the time. After a lackluster morning session for England, Stokes, who had refrained from bowling due to a knee injury and subsequent surgery, decided to test his arm. He finished with figures of 5-1-17-1 and kept threatening the batters consistently.
Speaking to TNT Sports, Finn stated that he thought Stokes would struggle but was enthralled to see encouraging signs from the all rounder He elaborated :
“Ben has the ability to get extra bits of bite off the surface and the first ball he bowled had that bite. Sometimes your knee can collapse and you bowl through the crease but there was no give in that knee whatsoever, which was a great sign for me – not just for today but for Ben and England fans in the future because he is such a huge component of this team. You worry if someone will be the same bowler again after knee surgery but the evidence looks like he can be,”
The 32 year old underwent a knee surgery before the India tour but seems to have recovered completely. Finn added that he himself during his playing days has experienced difficulty while bowling after having surgeries said :
“I have had three knee surgeries and I found it really hard after my first one to come back and be exactly the same bowler. You lose that bit of bite and zip, you lose the power to fully brace your front leg and create that whip in your shoulders that gives you the zip that sets you apart from people playing domestic cricket,”
Despite effort from Ben Stokes and other English bowlers, England is staring a certain defeat of 4-1 series loss at Dharmshala due to poor batting .