Ben Stokes reveals two defining moments after huge loss against India at Edgbaston

England captain Ben Stokes admitted that not dismissing India cheaply after having them in a spot of bother at 211-5 and finding themselves reeling at 84-5 were the two defining moments after their huge loss of 336 runs against India at Edgbaston, Birmingham on Sunday.

Shubman Gill scored a majestic knock of 269 runs in the first innings to put India in command. The Indian captain also received support from Ravindra Jadeja, who scored a fine knock of 89 and the duo added 203 runs for the sixth wicket to help India recover from 211-5. Gill then added another crucial alliance of 144 runs with Washington Sundar, who contributed 42 runs.

Ergo, India posted a par score of 587 runs in the first innings. Furthermore, India’s new ball bowlers – Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep were right on the money. 

Deep bagged a 10-wicket haul and registered the best bowling figures (10-187) by an Indian bowler in English conditions whereas Siraj scalped a six-wicket haul in the first innings.

Ben Stokes said in the post-match presentation, “Tough one. Two moments. Having them at 200/5 and not being able to burst them open. And then being 80/5 in our reply to India’s big 1st innings there is obviously going to be tough to be able to scrape it back from there. You look back at the start of the game, 200/5, if we were able to gets some wickets quicker, things could have been a little different. As the game got deeper and deeper, it sort of turned into a wicket, probably suited India more than us to be honest. Being 80/5 in reply to India’s big first innings total is obviously going to be tough from there.”

On the other hand, Stokes showered praise on Jamie Smith and Harry Brook for their fighting knocks in the first innings. Smith scored an unbeaten knock of 184 whereas Brook scored 158. The duo added a gigantic alliance of 303 runs to keep England in the contest but in the end, it was not enough. Smith scored another impressive knock of 88 runs in the second essay.

Stokes concluded, “Jamie has been incredible since he came into the team, he has been exceptional with the bat and he goes massively into the radar with his wicket-keeping. Just shows that his natural game and the way him and Harry were able to wrestle the momentum back towards us, I thought it was very very special part of the game to watch from the dressing room.”

The third Test match between India and England will be played at Lord’s, London, from 10th July onwards.