Ben Stokes refutes claims that England were not aggressive against India

England skipper Ben Stokes has refuted the claim that his team were not aggressive enough in India. While addressing a press conference after the fourth Test, the England skipper was irked by a question on England’s ruthlessness. The skipper then talked about how there is always an expectation from his team to be aggressive on the field. According to Stokes, when things are working for the side they are considered ruthless and if something goes wrong, they are not aggressive enough.

“Ruthlessness? What is it? How does it show itself? Everyone goes into the game with their best intentions, when it doesn’t pay off people say we’re not ruthless but when they do, they say we are,” said Stokes.

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Stokes further talked about the statement adding that he did not understand the word ruthlessness too well.

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“I don’t really understand the saying. That’s from my point of view; we try to do what we think is the best way to win the game. It can be a throwaway comment when people say we’re not ruthless enough. What does it mean?” Stokes concluded.

Stokes also voiced that he already knew that many negative reactions would be hurled at them since they have lost the Test series against India. “That is something that will be said (now) that we have lost our first series. A lot of talking points are after the fact of them happening. That is something I have come to terms with, something the team has come to terms with. But the way we play is pretty simple.”

While Ben Stokes might consider his side’s cricket to be simple, it certainly was not as effective as it should have been against an opposition like India. Having picked up an opening victory in Hyderabad, the visitors went on to lose three on the trot to miss out on the series triumph. In the fourth Test, England had a good start as they put up 353 runs in their first innings. But everything went downhill as they were curbed at 145 in the second innings, paving the way for a five-wicket victory for India.

Read: Ex-English cricketers react to Test series defeat to India

England’s form in Test cricket has been looking glum for the past year. They had one victory over Ireland in a one-off Test last summer and have not won any of their last three multi-series matches. England have drawn with Australia in the Ashes and New Zealand in 2023. They have also won just four of their last 10 matches in Test cricket.