Former Australia cricketers Brad Haddin and Tim Paine didn’t hold back in criticizing England captain Ben Stokes for his recent comments suggesting that the 1-3 scoreline in the ongoing series doesn’t reflect how close the matches have been. The duo pointed out that India is playing without some of their top stars, making Stokes’ remarks questionable.

Brad Haddin acknowledged Stokes’ tactical brilliance in marshalling his young spinners but emphasized that India is fielding a team without key players like Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami, and others. Haddin highlighted the depth in Indian cricket, praising emerging talents like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel for stepping up in the absence of senior players.

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“It sounded like a thinly veiled sledge, didn’t it? You can’t fault Ben Stokes because he has been magnificent tactically in this series. England has got a very young spin attack in tough conditions in the sub-continent, but young Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir have been fantastic, and Ben Stokes deserves a lot of credit for that,” said Brad Haddin.

“But he has been playing against the Indian B team because there has been no Kohli, no Shami, Bumrah got rested last Test, KL Rahul is out, and Rishabh Pant is still making his way back from that accident. They are not their strongest team, but it just goes to show that the depth in Indian cricket is huge because there are some big names coming into this next era of Indian cricket. Jaiswal is leading the charge; young Jurel was magnificent in the last Test as well. So India is looking very strong,” he added.

Tim Paine, drawing from his experience of losing to an Indian B team in the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar series, echoed Haddin’s sentiments. He agreed with Stokes but emphasized the significance of the absent Indian players and the challenges faced by England.

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“I totally agree with him, and I know what it’s like to be beaten by an Indian B team. Unfortunately, it happened to us on our home soil. But yes, some huge names out for India, which should have certainly helped the English. I thoroughly enjoy watching England play the game, I love the way they are going about it. I love watching them lose. Don’t get me wrong, but they are entertaining and exciting. They have been for Test cricket,” Tim Paine remarked.