Ben Stokes said England will not let their bruising defeat against India in the third Test eat up his side for the remainder of the series, even if, for the second loss in a row, the captain left the ground unhappy with technology.
The latter did not relate to a turning point given the nature of this reversal; Yashasvi Jaiswal’s brutal unbeaten 214 and Ravindra Jadeja’s five wickets having inflicted a 434‑run hammering – England’s second heaviest by way of runs in history.
If anything, the grumbles from Stokes about Zak Crawley’s dismissal – lbw to Jasprit Bumrah and the ball projected to be grazing the leg-stump bail by a whisker – were more a symptom of his side being rolled for 122 all out. It was their second collapse in the match after losing eight for 95 on a ruinous third day.
“I’ve played 100 Test matches now and I know that thinking too deep can send you on a downhill spiral,” said Stokes, whose side now trail 2‑1 with two to play.
“Whenever I speak after we lose it’s what we do next that counts. Games are lost in the head. If we carry anything over we’re already going into next week with a disadvantage.
“I mentioned in the dressing room, we must make sure all the emotion and disappointment is left in there and all the focus goes into the fourth Test.”
While Stokes believed Crawley’s lbw on the final day in Visakhapatnam was simply “wrong”, this latest complaint – one that prompted Stokes and the head coach, Brendon McCullum, to speak to the match referee, Jeff Crowe – was based on confusion over a Hawk-Eye projection that, in his eyes, showed the ball was missing.
Stokes said he was told the calculations were correct but the graphic produced was not and the projected contact was, at best, minimal. But all this risked sounding like deflection from the shortcomings of his team over the four days.
“I don’t know what to make of it,” Stokes said regarding his version of the conversation with Crowe. “I think when people in charge of it say something has gone wrong, that is enough in itself.
“My personal opinion is if the ball is hitting the stumps, it is hitting the stumps. They should take away umpire’s call. I don’t want to get too much into it because it sounds like we are moaning, saying that is why we lost the Test.”
That much was true. More relevant was the dropped catch by Joe Root on day one, 27 runs into Rohit Sharma’s eventual 133, or the first‑innings collapse that left bowlers barely recharged. Root cut a bereft figure all match, his much debated dismissal to the reverse scoop on day three summing up a disappointing tour so far.
“Who am I to question a guy who has 30 Test match hundreds and nearly 12,000 Test runs. I think he knows what he’s doing,” Stokes said, also pushing back at suggestions that the bowling demands placed upon Root are affecting his batting.
Stokes said he is now mulling a return to bowling himself at some stage in the series, having promised the medical staff previously that he would not push things after knee surgery last November.
“I had my first bowl [in practice] at 100%,” he said. “As a person, I like to jump the gun a little bit too much. I have to get my whole body to get used to bowling – so I am not saying no but I am not saying yes, either.”
