In the previous four Tests, Ben Stokes had not bowled, perhaps worried if his operated knee could take the load. Today, the same British media is lampooning the Ben Stokes-led team from all angles. Former England players and prominent writers from the British media have condemned the side and their performance throughout the five-match series.
Despite their victory in the first Test in Hyderabad, England’s tour of India concluded in dismal fashion as they suffered an innings and 64 run defeat within three days in the fifth Test. After the heavy defeat in picturesque Dharamsala, Ben Stokes acknowledged that his team failed to capitalise on crucial moments throughout the series, resulting in England’s four consecutive defeats.
England only managed to surpass the 400-run mark once in the series, during their memorable triumph in Hyderabad, raising questions about their supposedly aggressive approach under Stokes’ leadership. The batters, in particular, appeared to struggle on pitches that were not rank turners. They seemed to have misjudged the conditions, expecting surfaces similar to those in Pakistan, where they secured a remarkable series win against Babar Azam’s team. However, the reality in India proved to be different.
Here are some of the reactions coming from the British media:
“I do think England are at a little bit of a crossroads. They have got decisions to make over their style of play and over their team selection because, as much as they keep saying results don’t matter – they do,” said Alastair Cook while speaking to TNT Sports.
“The great frustration is that they have the talent to be really competitive all over the world but they have blown two big series and in this case it was because their batting failed miserably,” Michael Vaughan wrote in his column for The Telegraph.
“The batting collapses will be the main issue from this tour. There have been so many occasions where they have got off to decent starts and the middle order has then collapsed,” Nasser Hussain said on Sky Sports after the conclusion of the Dharamsala Test.
“Clinical by India . England will come home and probably beat Sri Lanka and West Indies playing the same style. But Australia and India are the far superior Test match benchmark and it won’t prove us anything,” podcaster John Wright wrote on ‘X’.
“Of the batsmen, only Alex Lees has been dropped in two years, and even though the series was settled, Stokes and McCullum opted against giving an exploratory game to Dan Lawrence or the uncapped Gus Atkinson in Dharamsala. Their mateship knows no bounds,” Simon Wilde of The Times, London, wrote.
“This was simply awful. Having competed well across the first four Tests, this was a game too far for a team who had bloodied India’s nose by winning the opening match in Hyderabad in sensational fashion. By the end, though, they were already in the departure lounge,” Chris Stocks wrote in his column for inews.co.uk.