Ben Stokes lost the first test series as captain of the England test team following his defeat in the IND vs ENG fourth test match. The Three Lions lost the Ranchi Test by five wickets and gave India an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series. Indian batsmen Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel helped their team cross the line and chase the set target of 192 runs.
England captain Ben Stokes was asked about the Ranchi surface and how it performed over the four days. Stokes stated that he was very surprised at how the field held together. The English captain said that he will not complain about the pitches as there are four results in the series.
Ben Stokes gives his verdict on the Ranchi pitch
Ben Stokes said at the press conference: “I’m very surprised at how this pitch held up. But the pitches in all four Tests have been good. “There are no complaints, the grounds have been very good and have produced four results.”
The pitches so far in the IND vs ENG Test series have been opposite to what was predicted before the series. Cricket experts were expected to shift ranks and it was predicted that matches would not last beyond the third day.
However, the pitching behavior turned out to be contrary to what was expected and helped both the batters and the pitchers. Chasing targets in the fourth innings has not been easy for both the teams, where, in the first Test, India faced a 28-run defeat, while England lost the second and third Tests by 106 and 434 runs.
This was the first time that India was able to win a Test match in India after 2013 while chasing a target of over 150 runs. England also lost their first Test series under the reign of head coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes. This was India’s 17th consecutive Test series victory in India and once again maintained the unbeaten Test series record in India. India managed to win their seventh test series and lost 1-0 in any test series.
England handed the hosts a target of 192 runs after a failure in their second innings. The tourists were involved for 145 runs in which Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin managed to pick up a fifer and Kuldeep Yadav took a four-wicket haul.
India started well as they chased 192 runs. Openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma scored 84 runs off 105 balls for the first wicket. Rohit scored a well-deserved half-century, scoring 55 runs off 81 deliveries. Joe Root dismissed Jaiswal for 37 runs off 44 balls, preventing him from reaching 50. Following the dismissals of Rohit and Jaiswal, Rajat Patidar’s poor form continued and he was dismissed for a duck. Patidar was followed by Ravindra Jadeja, who returned to the dressing room after scoring four runs. Finally, Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel ensured that India won the match by five wickets.
The fifth Test match of the series will be played at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala from March 7, 2024. India would hope to win the series 4-1.