‘We have been outplayed by the better team’ - Ben Stokes after humiliating series defeat

After winning the first Test in Hyderabad, England were confident of bagging the series and becoming the first team to end India’s unbeaten run at home since 2013. However, the Rohit Sharma-led side fought back despite a lot of adversities and eventually won the series 4-1. Youngsters in the form of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan have played some remarkable cricket while the seniors like Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah supported them well as India became the first nation to win a series against Ben Stokes’ England.

After the match, the England captain acknowledged the defeat and stated that they were outplayed by a better team. However, the all-rounder added that this was a massive learning for the youngsters in the team as would apply these lessons in the upcoming England summer. He mentioned that the players understand where they have gone wrong in the series and would apply themselves better in the coming times.

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“We have been outplayed by the better team of the series. We got so much cricketing coming up, so looking forward to it. When you look at the series as a whole, in those small moments we haven’t been able to keep it going. We all know as individuals as to where it all went wrong. When India get on top with the ball a lot men come around the bat and you got to find ways to keep those guys out of play and you need to be positive enough to take those risks and sometimes it could lead to downfall,” Stokes was quoted as saying by India.com.

700 wickets for a seamer is quite phenomenal: Stokes

In the fifth match against India in Dharamsala, James Anderson became the first seamer to pick up 700 wickets in Test cricket. Lauding him for his success, Stokes mentioned that it is ‘quite phenomenal’ and added that Anderson is the fittest cricketer he has ever seen.

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“700 wickets for a seamer is quite phenomenal, from the day he first started being a cricketer to where he is now, the desire and commitment is still there and he if the fittest cricketer I have ever seen,” Stokes added further.