Ben Stokes claims England 'definitely progressed as a team' despite 3-1 loss against India

England Test captain Ben Stokes stated that the team had “progressed” despite losing the ongoing five-match Test series against India. Ben Stokes expressed that they wanted to finish their challenging tour of India with a victory in the fifth and final Test match.

The visitors defeated the Rohit Sharma-led side in the series opener in India. The Ben Stokes-led team seemed poised to become the first team to defeat India in a Test series since 2012. However, they lost three consecutive matches and suffered a 1-3 series defeat.

3-1, you think it’s not been a success, but I look at it with completely different angles – Ben Stokes

Speaking ahead of the fifth Test between India and England, Ben Stokes emphasized his team’s progress during their challenging tour of India. Despite the series score of 3-1, Stokes viewed the tour positively, aiming for a better outcome in the final match.

“3-1, you think it’s not been a success, but I look at it with completely different angles to that, and I think we’ve definitely progressed as a team, although we haven’t got the results we wanted. 3-2 sounds better than 3-1 or 4-1. That’s obviously what we’re looking to do. We obviously look to win every game. It’s not worked out in terms of that way when it comes to results, but we’ve got one last push here. Great ground to do it in. Lots of Barmy Army coming into support this week, so very excited for this week,” Stokes told reporters.

English batters have struggled to score runs throughout the series. Ollie Pope, Ben Duckett, and Joe Root have crossed the triple-digit mark, while senior batters Ben Foakes and Jonny Bairstow failed to achieve the half-century milestone in the first four Tests.

The England skipper scored 70 runs in England’s first innings of the series opener. However, the left-handed batter failed to reach a half-century in subsequent matches in the series. He has managed to score 197 runs in eight innings at a disappointing average of 24.63.

I think going with two seamers and two spinners is probably the right call – Ben Stokes

Ben Stokes stated that the initial plan was a three-seamer, one-spinner attack, but considering the wicket conditions, they decided on a two-seamer, two-spinner approach. The southpaw hoped that it would be the right call for the team.

“Before we even got here we were probably thinking it was going to be a three seamer one spinner attack. But then when we saw the wicket and then saw it again today, I think going with two seamers and two spinners is probably the right call,” said Stokes.

For the final match of the ongoing series in India, England has made one change to their lineup, bringing in Mark Wood to replace Ollie Robinson, who struggled in the previous match. Robinson failed to pick up any wickets in his only appearance of the series in Ranchi.

The upcoming Test match will be played at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala, starting on Thursday, March 7th. The visiting team aims to finish the series on a winning note, while India hopes to earn 12 crucial points in the WTC table.

England Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (C), Ben Foakes, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, James Anderson, and Shoaib Bashir

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