IND vs ENG 4th Test | "We didn't have a chance in hell of competing with India": Ben Stokes

England captain Ben Stokes (Pic: File Pic)

Skipper Ben Stokes expressed how England fought with India despite losing the IND vs ENG 4th Test. The hosts registered a five-wicket win against the English men in the fourth test match. The Rohit Sharma-led India has now taken a lead of 3-1 over Ben Stokes-led England.

The visitors suffered their first test series defeat under Stokes' captaincy and head coach Brendon McCullum.

"3-1 doesn't look great, but the way in which we've come at India is what I'm most proud of," Stokes told British media. "We didn't have a chance in hell of even competing with India. But even today(Monday), that wasn't an easy win for India, and I think they would admit that," he added.

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In the IND vs ENG 4th Test, the visitors tried to fight back before India took the game into their hands on the fourth day. While chasing a target of 192 runs, the hosts were 120 for the loss of five wickets. Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel made an unbeaten partnership of 72 runs which helped the side secure a win in the IND vs ENG 4th Test.

"This young, inexperienced team has been successful over the past two years, but coming to India is a completely different beast, something that this team has not been exposed to."

"The way in which we have reacted to everything, even being on the wrong end of three results, is something I'm incredibly proud of."

The visitors had started off with a thrilling win in the opener but the hosts have come back strongly taking the next three fixtures in an emphatic manner.

"I'm very proud of the way every player has thrown everything at India. No one has ever taken a backward step," Stokes said.
England have let slip several promising opportunities in the series. Their batters have displayed poor judgement, giving away the advantage to the hosts.

Opting to bat first, England had a first-innings lead of 46 but weren't able to capitalise on it as they were bowled out for just 145 in their second essay, undone by the Indian spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja.
Stokes conceded that the Indian spinners' skill in those conditions made it "nigh-on impossible" to play with their attacking game.

"Looking back at when we had our chance to bat yesterday, cricket is always skill against skill. Ashwin, Jadeja and Kuldeep and the conditions we found ourselves in against them was very, very challenging.

"When India have a sniff in conditions like that, any team is going to find it hard to not only keep the scoreboard ticking but rotate the strike. You've got to give them a lot of credit for the way in which they bowled in very favourable conditions. On this occasion, their skill was better than ours yesterday.

"When you've got three world-class spinners operating in conditions like that, you know you're going to be up against it. That period yesterday after lunch was the game.

"Nothing is impossible, I wouldn't say that. But it was nigh on impossible to operate how we wanted to," he added.

(With PTI Inputs)