Ben Stokes rates Hyderabad Test win as his greatest triumph as England captain

England captain Ben Stokes opened up about the win in the first Test against India in Hyderabad. He rated the win at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium as the team’s greatest triumph since the time he took over the leadership of the team.

The Bazball has well and truly arrived in India and has been successful so far. The Ben Stokes & Co kickstarted the five-match Test series against India on a thumping note as they defeated dominant India at home by 28 runs and took a 1-0 lead in the series.

For the first two days, no one gave England a chance to win because they were down and dusted and had conceded a lead of 190 runs. However, they turned things around remarkably well in the second innings and dominated the Day 3 and Day 4 to win the game.

From conceding a lead of 190 to setting a target of 231 runs, England’s Bazball approach made India’s bowlers look clueless. The spinners in particular couldn’t make an impact as they usually do and the reason behind that was the brilliant 196 runs with the bat from Ollie Pope.

He single-handedly took the game from India with the bat before debutant Tom Hartley picked 7 wickets to wrap up the Indian innings. They bundled out hosts for just 202 runs while defending 231 and claimed a comfortable 28-run victory.

Ben Stokes while talking about the win revealed how he kept an eye on Rohit Sharma as to how the Indian skipper set the fields and then implemented that. He lauded the efforts of Ollie Pope and Tom Hartley, saying that he’s thrilled for everyone. Speaking at the post-match presentation, he explained:

“Since I have taken the captaincy on, we have had a lot of fantastic moments as a team. We’ve got a lot of great victories, and we’ve been part of some amazing games. Where we are and who were playing against, this victory is probably, 100% definitely, our greatest triumph. It’s my first time coming out here being a captain. I am a great observer of the game.

“I learned a lot from our first innings in the field. I watched how Indian spinners operated, how Rohit set the field and tried to take a lot of that into our innings. Absolutely thrilled for everyone. Tom Hartley on debut getting nine wickets, Ollie Pope coming back after his shoulder surgery, incredible effort from everyone.

“Tom came into the squad for the first time. A lot of confidence given to him. I was willing to give him longer spells regardless of what happened because I knew I had to turn back to him at some point. “

I don’t fear failure – Ben Stokes after win in Hyderabad Test against India

Ben Stokes further showed confidence in young spinners, saying that he will back everyone who has been selected. The England skipper was in awe of Ollie Pope’s innings and hailed it as the greatest innings by an England batter in the sub-continent.

Ben Stokes further made a bold statement, saying that he doesn’t fear failure and all he does is encourage players in the team. He elaborated:

“We completely back people who we have been selected. I have been lucky enough to play a lot of Test matches in the subcontinent. Same Joe Root, I have seen some pretty special innings from him. But the situation we found ourselves in, coming in at No. 3, the shots he played, 190 on such a difficult wicket, he was able to manipulate the field with sweep shots and reverse-sweeps, the way he was able to rotate the strike,

I think that’s the greatest innings that’s ever been played in the subcontinent by an English batsman. If you lose, you wake up in the morning, you’re still having a good crack at life, still breathing, got another four games after this. I don’t fear failure, all I want to do is try and encourage whoever finds themselves lucky enough to be in this squad.”

The second Test match between India and England will be played on 2nd February at Vizag. The visitors would be hoping to carry the momentum in the second game and take a 2-0 lead.