Former England captain Michael Atherton has expressed his confusion over the criticism directed at Ben Stokes and his teammates following their Test series loss in India. Atherton noted that given England’s less-than-ideal spin-bowling attack, very few people actually expected them to defeat India. Ben Stokes wasn’t that quite ruthless which hurt England a lot.
England took an early lead in the five-match series with a 28-run victory in the opening Test in Hyderabad. However, India bounced back strongly, winning the next three matches to secure the series victory with one game remaining. Despite this, England had their moments in the series but failed to capitalize on them, often finding themselves playing catch-up.
I don’t feel too strongly about being too critical of England- Michael Atherton on Ben Stokes’ brigade
In an interaction with Sky Sports, Michael Atherton praised England’s competitive spirit but acknowledged that India were simply too formidable in their home conditions.
“I don’t feel too strongly about being too critical of England. It’s a difficult place to come and win, obviously, with nobody able to do so since 2012/13. When we were talking about the series before a ball was sent down then I don’t think we expected England to win here, given the relative strength of the spin attack. I feel that it has been a competitive series. I feel like India know they’ve been in the tussle, but in the end they were just too good in home conditions,” he said.
England had several opportunities in the last three Tests, particularly with India missing at least four first-choice players. However, it was largely due to the visitors’ reckless batting that they lost the initiative.
England’s spinners were really good- Michael Atherton
Michael Atherton also noted that the promising performances of young spinners Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley, who are not first-choice players for their respective counties, are a positive sign for England.
“England’s spinners were really good. Shoaib Bashir now has more Test wickets than he had first-class wickets coming into this tour and I thought he bowled excellently. I think if you said before the series began that two young spinners, who hadn’t played a Test match and are not really first choice for their counties, would have put performances in like that then I think they would have taken that. It could conceivably be 4-0 to India because they will feel they should have won that first game in Hyderabad and probably ought to have done,” he elaborated.
With one Test remaining, England will be eager to secure another win to conclude the series on a positive note.
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