Ben Stokes reflects on missed chances, praises young duo after Edgbaston loss
Shubman Gill’s record double ton and Akash Deep’s stunning 10-wicket haul powered India to a historic 336-run win at Edgbaston, ending their drought at the venue and leveling the series 1-1 in emphatic style.
England captain Ben Stokes acknowledged that missed opportunities early in the match allowed India to take firm control of the second Test at Edgbaston.
“Having them at 200 for 5, we were really happy there and not being able to burst them open there and being 80 for 5, it's tough to be able to scrape it back from there,” Stokes said at the post-match presentation.
He admitted the conditions began to tilt in India’s favour as the game progressed.
“You look back at the start of the game, 200/5 — if we were able to get some wickets quicker, things could have been a little different. As the game got deeper and deeper, it sort of turned into a wicket probably suited India more than us, to be honest.”
With India’s massive first-innings total on the board, England’s collapse to 80 for 5 in reply left them little room to recover.
“Being 80/5 in reply to India's big first innings total is obviously going to be tough from there. We ran in and tried everything, we changed plans, and when a team is on top of you — obviously India is a class team — it's always very hard to wrestle back when the opposition is full of world-class performers.”
Despite the heavy defeat, Stokes found positives in the performances of youngsters Harry Brook and Jamie Smith, both of whom struck centuries in the first innings to give England hope.
“Jamie has been incredible since he came into the team. He has been exceptional with the bat and he goes massively into the radar with his wicket-keeping. Just shows that his natural game and the way him and Harry were able to wrestle the momentum back towards us — I thought it was a very, very special part of the game to watch from the dressing room,” Stokes concluded.
