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[Saba Sports News] England captain Ben Stokes acknowledged Joe Root’s unconventional reverse scoop during the first innings in Rajkot as a pivotal moment in the match, especially after Root was dismissed attempting the shot against Jasprit Bumrah, who had already gotten him out twice in the series. Stokes, however, refrained from critiquing Root’s decision-making, highlighting Root’s impressive career stats, including nearly 12,000 runs and 30 Test centuries, to support his ability to make strategic choices on the field.
“Joe Root’s scored nearly 12,000 runs, I think we can leave the decision-making and ‘why’ with Joe. I can understand why there would be frustration around that because of how good a player Joe is,” Stokes stated. “Jasprit Bumrah has got him out a couple of times this tour early on. And I thought Joe was looking really, really good at the crease, and he sensed that as a time to put something different back onto Jasprit and make him maybe think about something. Because what that shot does for Joe is it makes fields change, makes bowlers’ mindset change towards him. He got out to it, and it’s not a shot you necessarily see Test match players playing. But look, who am I to question a guy who has 30 Test match hundreds, nearly 12,000 Test match runs. I think he knows what he’s doing.”
Stokes also addressed questions about whether Root’s bowling duties were affecting his batting performance, dismissing the notion and praising Root’s enthusiasm for contributing with both bat and ball. He emphasized the overall team strategy, known as “Bazball,” advocating for continued aggressive play without tempering their approach despite recent innings collapses and the challenge of adapting to match situations.
Reflecting on the loss in Rajkot and the series moving forward, Stokes stressed the importance of learning from defeats and maintaining focus on the upcoming matches. He expressed confidence in the team’s methods and the players’ ability to execute their roles, highlighting Ben Duckett’s innings as an example of England’s batting strength.
“I spoke before I came out here and said weeks like this are hard. Losing games for England isn’t where you want to be but games are – personally, I think – won or lost in the head. I just made sure that all the emotion, all the disappointment there would be in that dressing room now, make sure it stays here. We’ve got two games left and all I’m thinking about is winning this series 3-2. “Writing it [the loss] off wouldn’t do justice to the professionalism of the players in the dressing room. You’ve got to learn from disappointment but use it in a positive way, not let it eat you. I’ve played 100 Test matches now and I know that thinking too deep into certain things can send you on a downhill spiral. It’s about what we do in the next two games. I said after the first game that as good as the feeling was, we needed to move on to the second game, I said that after the last game and I say it after this game as well. We put everything behind us and focus on what’s going forward and that’s the next two Tests.
Despite acknowledging India’s superior performance in Rajkot, Stokes remained committed to the team’s aggressive playing style and optimistic about their chances in the remainder of the series.
“Coming out on the wrong side of the result is not what we wanted and we were outplayed by India,” he said. “[Our methods] reflected in the way Ben Duckett played. I thought that innings was remarkable to watch and set us up to be in a real strong position going into day three. We wanted to capitalise on that and the way in which we wanted to do that didn’t work how we wanted it to. That can happen. Things don’t always go how you want them to.”