It’s a cultural thing for them to blame the pitch for every loss.
It’s not surprising that English captain Ben Stokes has blamed the pitch again for their defeat in the second Test, ironically at their home. Despite doctoring the pitch and making it flat for their average batters, who have mostly played on batting-friendly surfaces in their Test careers, Stokes felt that the track didn’t fit their playing style.
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As many as 1692 runs were scored across four innings at Edgbaston, the most ever in the ground’s history, suggesting how flat the conditions were throughout the contest. However, on the BBC, Stokes pointed out the pitch became more like those in the subcontinent, which helped India acclimatise to the conditions.
“To be honest, it (pitch) 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. But then, just as it got deeper and deeper, it became a real tough slog for us. And obviously with the Indian attack in the conditions that they’re used to and knew how to expose those conditions just a little bit better than us.”
Basically, Stokes suggests that a pitch specifically designed to give nothing to the bowlers was more subcontinental, which is not the case with subcontinent pitches. The truth is that the English team was completely outplayed throughout the game, but it’s a cultural thing for them to blame the pitch for every loss, even if the defeat comes in their own backyard.
India’s plans were clear; they wanted to bat as much as possible and tire the English players across both batting innings. Then, they knew they must extract the best out of the new ball, for that is the only phase to get wickets with these dukes balls.
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That happened precisely, as India scored 1014 runs and took ten wickets in the first 25 overs across both innings, which never allowed England to come back into the game, even if they fought back with the willow. Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep planned to bowl stump lines and make batters play false shots from there on, and they succeeded.
India understood the conditions better than England, and Ben Stokes couldn’t take this fact and went on to point out flaws in the pitch. But even if the pitch became subcontinental, England should have been able to adapt because that’s how international cricket works, and conditions do vary from venue to venue.
Does it mean that Stokes agrees England batters are only suited for tracks that have nothing for the bowlers, and their bowling attack is also one-dimensional? He simply can’t accept that his team is built in a way that several things should go their way to succeed, and he will continue blaming everything but his team every time he loses in this series and ahead.
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