England captain Ben Stokes dismissed allegations of his team lacking ruthlessness in the Test series loss to India. Despite an initial victory in the series, England faced three consecutive defeats, trailing 1-3 with one game left. This series defeat marked the first for England in the era of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, which began in mid-2022.
The defeat in Ranchi was especially disheartening for England, given their strong position with a 176-run lead in the first innings and India seven wickets down. When questioned in the press conference about England’s purported lack of ruthlessness, Stokes, visibly annoyed, responded:
“Ruthlessness? What is it? How does it show itself? Everyone goes into the game with their best intentions; when it doesn’t pay off, people say we’re not ruthless, when it does, they say we are.”
”I don’t really understand it. That’s from my point of view; we try to do what we think is the best way to win a game. It can be a throwaway comment when people say we’re not ruthless enough. What does it mean?”
India bounced back from 177/7 to reach 307, while England’s second innings crumbled from 110/3 to 145 all-out, preventing them from securing a series-leveling victory. Before the India series, England had won 13 out of their last 18 Tests since Ben Stokes took over as the permanent Test captain.
“This marks our initial loss, but there will be numerous series engagements in the future”- Ben Stokes
Despite the letdown of experiencing their first Test series loss under the leadership of Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum, Stokes maintained composure by focusing on the numerous upcoming series engagements for the team.
In the Bazball era with the pair at the helm, England achieved notable home series victories against New Zealand and South Africa, followed by a 3-0 clean sweep against Pakistan in Pakistan.
“Obviously we want to win every game we play, and win every series. This is the first we have lost, but we will be involved in plenty more series going forward. It’s always disappointing being on the losing team. Looking back at when we had our chance to bat yesterday, cricket is always skill against skill,” said Stokes.
The recent loss has dropped England to the seventh position on the World Test Championship (WTC) table, with a percentage below 20.
Hence, the significance of the final Test against India in Dharamsala, beginning on March 7, is crucial for the team to improve their position on the WTC table, even though the series result has already been determined.
Get the latest cricket news here, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram for more such updates.
