NEW DELHI: Skipper Ben Stokes has indicated that India's 3-1 lead in the five-match series may appear a one-sided affair but England fought toe to toe with the hosts and he is proud of his team's efforts.
Stokes' perspective has been widely backed by the English media hailing England's fighting approach that saw them seize opportunities in various sessions, even though the outcomes did not favour them.
However, former India batter Aakash Chopra took on the English media for the narrative they sell and gave them a reality check for not addressing the root cause behind England's defeat.
Chopra pointed out in his tweet that England lost absolutely critical phases in the series. He further said that the English media is inclined to depict that Stokes and his team put up a closely contested battle against the Indian team.
"England lost many 'absolutely critical' phases in this Test series...phases where they needed to simply consolidate their position. Phases where they needed to build on the advantage. But that's the not the narrative that sells...what sells with the British media is that 'Nobody gave us a chance' 'Nobody beats India in India' 'See...we ran them close'. English middle-order (barring Pope and Root in one innings each) has capitulated on good pitches. Address that elephant in the room...but for that first admit that there's an elephant in the room," Chopra posted on X.
"3-1 doesn't look great, but the way in which we've come to India is what I'm most proud of," Stokes told British media.
"We didn't have a chance in hell of even competing with India. But even today(Monday), that wasn't an easy win for India, and I think they would admit that," he added.
In the fourth Test, England tried to fashion a fight-back before India crossed the line on the fourth day in Ranchi. Chasing 192, India slipped to 120/5, before Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel stitched a 72-run unbroken partnership.
On numerous occasions in the series, England squandered several promising opportunities, with their batters exhibiting poor judgment and conceding the advantage to the hosts.
Opting to bat first, England had a first-innings lead of 46 but weren't able to capitalise on it as they were bowled out for just 145 in their second essay, undone by the Indian spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja.
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