Ben Stokes insisted he was proud of how his England players had thrown everything at India despite a third straight loss resulting in his first series defeat since taking over as captain two years ago.
Defending 192 on the fourth day in Ranchi, hopes of setting up a potential fifth Test decider in Dharamsala next week were raised when Shoaib Bashir’s two wickets in two balls after lunch reduced the largely shotless hosts to 120 for five. But Shubman Gill, 52 not out, and Dhruv Jurel, unbeaten on 39, had ice in their veins thereafter, chiselling out a chanceless 72-run partnership and ending with a flourish to take the match by five wickets and give India an unassailable 3-1 lead with one to play.
Stokes said: “Three-one doesn’t look great but the way in which we’ve come at India is what I’m most proud of. Coming to India is a completely different beast, something that this team has not been exposed to [before]. The way we have reacted to everything, even being on the wrong end of three results, is something I’m incredibly proud of.
“[There was a view that] we didn’t have a chance in hell of even competing with India but even today that wasn’t an easy win and I think they would admit that. I’m very proud of the way every player has thrown everything at India. No one has taken a backwards step.
“Obviously we want to win every game and every series. But a lot of talking points are after the fact. That is something I have come to terms with, something the team has come to terms with. The way we play is pretty simple. You can have it all taken away at the click of a finger, so why not enjoy every opportunity you have to play?”
There was a concession from Stokes that his side simply had no answer to India’s spinners on the pivotal third day, Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav sharing nine scalps between them as England lost their last seven wickets for 35 to finish 145 all out. The pair exploited a capricious surface to deadly effect, even if Stokes had nothing but praise for the pitches prepared for all four Test matches.
Much has been made of England’s aggressive approach but he felt it was rendered obsolete in Ranchi, such was the quality of attack they were up against. Stokes said: “The conditions we found ourselves in against [Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep] were very challenging. When India have a sniff in conditions like that, any team is going to find it hard to not only keep the scoreboard ticking but rotate the strike.
“You’ve got to give them credit for the way they bowled in that crucial period. They sensed an opportunity to put us under pressure; that period was the game. It was nigh on impossible to operate how we wanted to.”
While Stokes said England have unearthed two future talents in Bashir and Tom Hartley, who will “end this tour with their heads held high” after sharing 12 wickets in this Test, his opposite number, Rohit Sharma, had extended India’s unbeaten record at home to 15 series (17 when including one-off Test matches).
Sharma, who made 55 in the run chase and produced a nod of approval from Stokes with an audacious whipped six off Jimmy Anderson first thing on Monday, said: “We knew it would be a challenging series and England would play different cricket to others who come here. They had success with it but we were composed as a batting and bowling unit.”
