As the England batsmen suffered another collapse in the ongoing Test series in India and their all-rounder Ben Stokes on Thursday said that these are the “hardest conditions” he has faced as a batsman. Except for the first innings of the first Test, England has not been able to pull off a commendable batting performance. Under the captaincy of Joe Root, England has utterly failed to put up a competitive total on the board, even in the last Test as they were all out for 205 runs in the first innings in Ahmedabad.
Describing the same during a press conference, Ben Stoke said, “I have played like 70 odd games now, these are the hardest conditions that I have faced as a batsman. I think it is a case of finding it in your own way, it’s not about like you go and say ”this is what we need to do better as a group”. It is about how we can go about it as individuals and when we come back here next time, (it will be about) how we progressed as individuals because everyone plays in a different way.”
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Compared to England’s score of 112 and 81 in the first and second innings respectively of the pink-ball Test, 205 runs seems like a much better start for the visiting team. Owing to both teams’ batsmen failing to score big runs and the match ending in just a couple of days, the previous Test had also triggered a pitch debate.
Stokes, reflecting on this wicket, said it is a “much better” pitch than it was in the previous game.
Talking about the same, Ben Stokes said, “This morning and this afternoon, it was more about the bounce that was an issue rather than the turning in. But later in the day, the ball started to spin a little bit more. Overall, it is a much better wicket than it was in the last game played here.”
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When asked whether it was good Indian bowling or poor England batting, Stokes said that it was the combination of both. At Stumps, India’s score read 24/1 with Rohit (8*) and Pujara (15*) at the crease, trailing the visitors by 181 runs in the first innings.
