England captain Ben Stokes on Monday dismissed suggestions that his team was ruthless in their approach against India as they suffered their first Test series defeat in the 'Bazball' era on Monday. India defeated England by five wickets in the fourth and penultimate Test to take an unassailable 3–1 lead in the five-match series. The home side's victory marked a stunning demise for England's ultra-aggressive 'Bazball' approach, which has been their much-hyped winning mantra since 2022 and now faces widespread criticism for being too rigid and lacking in depth. Asked whether England lacked ruthlessness towards India, Stokes replied: 'Ruthlessness? What is that? How is that expressed?
“Everyone goes into the game with the best intentions; if it doesn't pay off people say we're not ruthless, if it is they say we are,” Stokes said at the post-match media conference.
Stokes emphasized that the perception of ruthlessness can be subjective and often misunderstood.
“I don't really understand it. That's from my point of view; we're trying to do what we think is the best way to win a game. It can be a throwaway comment when people say we're not ruthless enough. What does that do? ? does it mean?” he asked.
After Stokes took over as captain from Joe Root, England's 'Bazball' approach has seen them win against New Zealand, South Africa and Pakistan.
England also fought back in last year's Ashes to draw the series 2-2.
“Obviously we want to win every game we play, and win every series. This is the first one we've lost, but we'll be involved in many more series in the future,” Stokes said.
“It's always disappointing to be on the losing team. Looking back to when we got the chance to bat yesterday, cricket is always skill versus skill.”
Thanks to Indian spinners
The England skipper credited the Indian spin troika of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav with turning it around by sharing all 10 wickets between them in the visitors' second innings.
“Ashwin, Jadeja and Kuldeep and the conditions we found ourselves in against them were very, very challenging,” Stokes said.
“If India find themselves in such conditions, any team will find it difficult to not only keep the scoreboard going but also keep the batting going.
“You have to give them a lot of credit for the way they bowled in very favorable conditions. On this occasion their skill was better than ours yesterday.” Stokes was also pleased with his side's young spin duo Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir, who bagged a first five and returned with a match return of eight wickets.
“They will be able to leave with their heads held high at the end of this tour. For us as an England team, we have more exciting talent in the future, which is great for English cricket.”
'Can't complain on the field'
England were surprised to see the wide cracks on the pitch ahead of the match here, but Stokes said he has no complaints about the Ranchi pitch. He even admitted that all four test pitches have been “really good” so far.
“I had no idea what it was going to do and I was very surprised how it held together. The temperatures of the day made it behave differently, but I think all four were very good test match pitches,” he said.
“We've seen many times that it's difficult to get them out, but there will be periods when spin is a threat. These are the conditions you expect in India. No complaints, just really good wickets and four games, four results, so I can't complain,” Stokes said.
'James Anderson has muscle stiffness but fine'
Senior pacer James Anderson was not seen on the field on Monday after bowling three overs in the morning session. But Stokes said he is doing well and has just developed tension in the quadriceps muscle.
“Jimmy is doing well, he just had a bit of a tight quad and there was no chance of him bowling at all in the match.
“You're looking at risk versus reward. Jimmy doesn't get much reward when he's in the field when he has a pretty tight quad after playing three consecutive Test matches in India.”
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