Ben Stokes aim for 3-2 series win in India. Stokes confident England will bounce back.
England trailing 2-0 to Australia in the previous year’s Ashes series, he predicted that “England will win the series 3-2.” The series ended in a 2-2 tie as the Test was drawn.
Stokes expressed the same hope despite falling behind in the five-match Test series on the tour of India.
After winning the first Test in Hyderabad, England lost the second and third Tests at Visakhapatnam and Rajkot respectively, trailing 2-1. Only if England wins both of the remaining Test matches in Ranchi and Dharamsala will they secure the series.
In yesterday’s third Test of the series in Rajkot, England’s batting lineup was unable to chase down 557 runs. England were defeated by 434 runs after being knocked out for just 122 runs, its worst Test loss to date.
Even after suffering two straight losses, Stokes believes England cricket is headed in the right direction, “It just wants to make sure we move forward and focus on what’s ahead. Since the match can be won or lost psychologically. Let’s move over the feelings and annoyances resulting from this week and focus on next week’s events (the matches). and we know we have to win the next 2 games to win the series and that’s what we’ll look to do.”
At the post-match award ceremony, the England skipper Ben Stokes commented, “We are trailing 2-1 in the series. The remaining two matches. So, there is a good chance to win the series 3-2 and take home the trophy.”
India scored 445 runs in the first half but England kept the pressure on them. Ben Duckett’s brilliant century saw the visitors score 224 for 2. But while reverse scooping Jasprit Bumrah, Joe Root was caught at slip. Ben Stokes was caught by Bumrah while hitting a six off Ravindra Jadeja.
After that, their batting lineup was shaken. The England team did not return to the match from there.
The untimely exit of two of the team’s most experienced batsmen was criticized by former England captain Alastair Cook, who led the team to a Test series win in India last time out.
India-England 4th Test will start in Ranchi on Friday.
