England skipper Ben Stokes admitted they were outplayed by the better team of the series after a 4-1 series loss against India. The hosts won the fifth Test match of the series by an innings and 64 runs as they ticked the right boxes after losing the opening Test.
India was able to dominate as they came up with a collective effort. England was bundled out for 195 runs in the second innings at Dharamsala on Saturday after India took a huge lead of 259 runs in the first essay.
Ravichandran Ashwin, playing his 100th Test match, bagged his 36th five-wicket haul as he returned with figures of 5-77. Ashwin now has the most fifers by an Indian bowler, surpassing legendary Anil Kumble. Furthermore, Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah bagged two wickets apiece. Yadav had also bagged a five-wicket haul in the first innings and thus he was awarded Player of the Match.
Meanwhile, England was good in patches throughout the series but they were not able to clinch the crucial stages of the series and it led to their downfall.
Barring Joe Root, who scored a fine knock of 84 runs in the second essay, none of the England batters could go past the 40-run mark.
Ben Stokes said in the post-match presentation, “We have been outplayed by the better team of the series. We got so much cricket 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 got on top with the ball a lot of 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.”
Looking at the positives from the series, Stokes said Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley gave them positive starts throughout the series whereas Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir impressed on their maiden tour to India. Moreover, Joe Root, who wasn’t at his best in the first three Test matches, returned to form in the last two games.
Stokes added, “Crawley and Duckett continuing their partnership at the top and Bashir and Hartley have been really exceptional the whole series and Root coming into form at the backend is really exciting ahead of our summer. Amazing to be on the field with Jimmy. 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 is the fittest cricketer I have ever seen.”
India and England players will now be in action in the upcoming IPL 2024 after the conclusion of the five-match Test series.
