England captain Ben Stokes rejected criticism of the team’s ultra-aggressive approach after they were routed by India in the third Test, the hosts triumphing by 434 runs with a day to spare in Rajkot.
Saturday was one of the low points of the Stokes-Brendon McCullum era, as England collapsed from a promising position at 224-2 to end the day facing a 322-run deficit.
Yashasvi Jaiswal’s incredible 214 stretched India’s lead even further as England’s attack failed to make any headway whatsoever on Sunday, and there was to be no world-record chase for the tourists.
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The early losses of Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley left England’s hopes in tatters, and they found themselves at 50-7 before being bowled all out for 122.
With England now 2-1 down in the series, many critics have suggested their back-to-back defeats have outlined the limitations of ‘Bazball’, but Stokes says the team have faith in their approach.
“Everyone has got a perception or an opinion,” Stokes told TNT Sports.
“The people in the dressing room have the opinions that really matter to us. Sometimes things don’t work out how we want them to.
Defeat in Rajkot. India move into a 2-1 lead 🏏
Match Centre: https://t.co/W5T5FEBY7t
🇮🇳 #INDvENG 🏴 #EnglandCricket pic.twitter.com/OJe5BF5hd5
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) February 18, 2024
“You look at the situation we found ourselves in on day three, the way I felt the day needed to go to give ourselves a chance of winning was to press the button after the lunch break.
“Me, personally, I sensed it as an opportunity to have one of my days out. I have got unbelievable belief in myself just like I have belief in everyone, that they can turn the game in our favour.
“We wanted to be bowling at the back end of day three. It came earlier than we wanted to. It was unfortunate.
“We wanted to push the game on as much as we could. Sometimes gameplans don’t work out and that is sport sometimes.”
England must now win in Ranchi next week to keep the series alive ahead of the fifth match in Himachal Pradesh, but despite two chastening losses, Stokes retains hope.
“We’re 2-1 down and have two games left. We have a great opportunity for 3-2,” he continued.
“We have to leave this game behind us and know we have to win the next two games to win the series.”
A roaring win in Rajkot! 🏟️#TeamIndia register a 434-run win over England in the 3rd Test 👏👏
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/FM0hVG5X8M#INDvENG | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/87M3UiyWcw
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 18, 2024
