Image Credit- AFP
Ellie Pope’s second-inning 196 against India was
dubbed “the greatest innings that has ever been played in the subcontinent
by an English batsman” by Ben Stokes, who called England’s surprise
victory their “greatest triumph” since he became captain.
Since Stokes assumed captaincy in May 2022, England
has won 14 of the 19 Test matches; this run of wins includes decisive victory
against Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and Pakistan. However, Stokes
thinks that this 28-run victory—against a team that has dominated in their own
conditions for ten years—is the greatest of the bunch. It was achieved away
from home.
“Since I’ve taken the captaincy on, we’ve had a
lot of fantastic moments as a team,” Stokes said. “We’ve had a lot of
great victories, we’ve been involved in some amazing games. But I think [with]
where we are and who we’re playing against, this victory is 100%, definitely
our greatest triumph since I’ve been captain.”
Stokes said that he had learned from England’s first
innings by watching Rohit Sharma’s captaincy of India’s three spinners: R
Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. “It’s my first time coming out
here and being in charge of a team and being a captain in these
conditions,” he said. “I’m not going to lie – I actually may not seem
it – but I’m a great observer of the game. I learned a lot from our first
innings in the field.
“I watched a lot of how the Indian spinners
operate in the field and the fields that Rohit set, and tried to take a lot of
that into our innings here when we obviously had to bowl them out. I’m thrilled
for everyone involved… it’s been an incredible effort by everyone, and even the
people who might not necessarily have the rewards. I think everyone’s
contributed to a great win.”
Stokes reserved special praise for Pope, who had not
played since July following shoulder surgery and managed 153 runs in eight
innings on England’s 2021 tour of India. “I’ve been lucky enough to play a
lot of Test matches in the subcontinent with a certain Joe Root, and I’ve seen
some pretty special innings from himself.
“But I think the situation we found ourselves in,
coming in at No. 3, some of the shots that we’ve seen, just that whole innings,
190 on such a difficult wicket. He was able to manipulate the field with his
sweep shots – reverse sweeps, normal sweeps – and the way he was able to rotate
the strike… for me, I think that’s the greatest innings that’s ever been played
in the subcontinent by an English batsman.”