IND vs ENG: Ben Stokes believes Test cricket's future is in the safe hands of youngsters

England lost the fourth Test to India in Ranchi on Monday, 26 February. With this, they also lost the Test series in India with one Test in hand. Youngsters Dhruv Jurel and Shubman Gill remained unbeaten in the final innings of the match to guide India to take an unassailable lead of 3-1 in the five-match Test series as well

Speaking after the loss in Ranchi, the England captain Ben Stokes talked about the positives instead of criticising his team. However, Stokes said that he was happy for the future of Test cricket. Although he argued that the scorecard did not reflect the truth of the match as he said that it did not feel like a 5-wicket loss in Ranchi as well.

“Have to give some credit to the spinners” – Ben Stokes

“Look, I think, you know, I think it’s a great Test match. Look at the scoreboard. India win by 5 wickets. I don’t think it really gives enough credit to the game is a whole, you know, the ebbs and flows, every single day that happened,” Ben Stokes said in the post-match presentation. “Have to give some credit to the spinners you know Tom, hardly and Shoaib Bashit, to come out put in that performance throughout the whole Test at such an early stage of their career, I mean, incredible. I could not be more proud of that,” he further added.

Ben Stokes spoke about the youngsters from both sides who played well in the Ranchi Test match. For England, it was Shoaib Bashir who dismantled India in the first innings, claiming his first five-wicket haul in his debut Test series. For India, it was Dhruv Jurel, who played brilliantly in both innings as well. Jurel scored 90 in the first innings to help India from a sudden collapse and remained not out at 39 in the final innings of the match when the hosts were chasing 192.

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“I mean, look, that’s just the way I am a person. That’s the way I’m captain. It’s allowing, you know, these young guys to come into you know, pretty intimidating situation in test cricket against India who are incredibly hard to come out here and play against. Just allowing the freedom to run up and treat every ball is an occasion, rather than thinking about something that’s already happening, can’t be changed,” Stokes further added

“You know, I think so far the series really has a lot of talent, not only for us, but also for India. I am a massive Test cricket fan, I love Test cricket and I think on both sides we’ve seen some young, inexperienced players come out. I think the future is great for Test cricket,” Stokes again shared.

“We have been good in periods” – Ben Stokes

However, the England captain said that he was happy with the performance of the team on a difficult track at Ranchi as well. England will now play the final Test match of the series against India in Dharamsala, starting on 7 March as well. They will now try for crucial WTC points in the final Test match as well.

“We have been good in periods. When we had the turn with the bat, I don’t want to say impossible because everything is possible. But against Ashwin, Jadeja and Kuldeep on these kind of surfaces is difficult. That little period was very tough for us,” Stokes said. “You come into the series to win. I have come here for two years and my message always is to be consistent. Everyone has given everything on the field and that’s what matters to us,” concluded Ben Stokes.