Ben Stokes throws Edgbaston pitch in mud after 336-run beating, calls it ‘more like sub-continent’; faces flak
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Ben Stokes throws Edgbaston pitch in mud after 336-run beating, calls it ‘more like sub-continent’; faces flak")
Ben Stokes blames 'more like sub-continent' Edgbaston pitch for 2nd Test loss Photograph: (AFP)
While 1632 runs were scored on that 'flat Edgbaston pitch' across four innings, which included three centuries from as many different batters, and also a double hundred, the social media mocked Stokes for his poor assessment.
England captain Ben Stokes feels that the Edgbaston pitch used in the just-concluded second Test against India acted like subcontinental as the game progressed, facing flak on social media for igniting the blame game after his team’s embarrassing 336-run beating. England won the toss and decided to bowl first - a decision they regretted, as also echoed by team coach Brendon McCullum after the game that ended late on day five. While 1632 runs were scored on that 'flat Edgbaston pitch' across four innings, which included three centuries from as many different batters, and also a double hundred, the social media mocked Stokes for his poor assessment.
Stokes’ England was never in the game, not even from the beginning. Despite removing KL Rahul early on day one, they lagged throughout, with Indian captain Shubman Gill punishing them across both innings. While his career-best 269 in the first innings broke multiple records, also propelling Team India to a mammoth 587, his second-inning hundred was the one that took the game away from England.
Even English batters enjoyed scoring runs in Birmingham, with Harry Brook and Jamie Smith stitching a 300-plus run-stand for the sixth wicket in the first innings, but failed to replicate the same in the final innings, as England got all out on 271. Stokes, however, scored just 33 runs across both innings, failing to contribute with the bat in this series thus far.
“To be honest, it’s probably ended up being more of a subcontinent pitch as it got deeper and deeper into the game. There was certainly a little bit in it to start off with, and I think we exposed that very very well early on,” Stokes said during a chat with Test Match Special.
“Then just as it sort of got deeper and deeper, it just became a real tough slug for us and obviously with the Indian attack and the conditions that they’re used to, they were sort of used to and knew sort of how to expose those conditions just sort of a little bit better than us and that can happen sometimes. But yeah, it’s nothing to be too disheartened about. We can take being out-skilled, and we’ve certainly been out-skilled this week,” the English skipper continued.
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Meanwhile, Team India’s win at Edgbaston was their maiden Test victory at this venue in nine outings thus far. With the five-match series now tied at 1-1, the action moves to Lord’s in London for the third Test starting next Thursday (Jul 10).
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