Ben Stokes was probably the only player, along with Jonny Bairstow, who understood what skipper Joe Root had meant by urging England batsmen to be “brave” in their approach.
Braving a stomach upset, he seemed well on way to live up to his reputation as an X-factor. But after doing all the hard work that led to him a well-compiled half-century, he once again fell to a straighter delivery from an off-spinner. The only difference was Washington Sundar got him out this time, not Ravichandran Ashwin.
No wonder the ace all-rounder is bitterly disappointed on not being able to convert it into a big innings that could have put India under pressure. “Very frustrated. I spent two-and-a-half hours playing forward trying not to get out to the straight ball, but I got out exactly that way,” Stokes said after the day’s play.
Fifties aren’t enough to win a team a Test match, Stokes pointed out. “A fifty is never going to win you a Test match.
“So I was disappointed to get out that way, especially after protecting myself for such a long time from the ball that skids on.”
Stokes also feels England batsmen erred in terms of execution. “We wanted to go and play in a certain way as a group, but our execution let us down,” he rued.
Exchange of words
An exchange of words between pacer Mohammad Siraj and Stokes was another talking point of the day. It happened during the first session, and then captain Virat Kohli took it up and was seen confronting Stokes about the matter, which did require the on-field umpire’s intervention.
It, however, got sorted quickly. Later, speaking about the incident, Siraj said: “Stokes swore at me, so I told Viratbhai about it and he took it up then. But these things do happen on the ground.”
Stokes portrayed the incident as an instance of competitiveness between the teams.
“Two professionals showing they care about the sport that they love and enjoy playing. Two competitors going toe to toe and not backing down... And why would they not be competitive? There wasn’t anything untoward,” he said.