My greatest triumph
England captain Stokes hails sensational comeback to clinch 28-run victory over India in first Test
Ben Stokes hailed England’s extraordinary comeback win in Hyderabad as his team’s “greatest triumph” since he took over as Test captain two years ago.
Stokes has overseen a dizzying period of improvement but in England’s latest victory, their 14th in 19 matches under his captaincy, they came from behind in a manner no team ever had previously in India. The 28-run triumph gives them a precious 1-0 lead going into the second Test in Vizag, which starts on Friday.
England became the first team to win in India having conceded a first-innings deficit as big as their 190 runs. This was just India’s fourth defeat at home in more than a decade.
“Since I’ve taken the captaincy on we’ve obviously had a lot of great moments as a team, we’ve had a lot of great victories, we’ve been involved in some amazing games,” Stokes said.
“We’ve had some incredible victories but considering where we are and who we are playing against, the position we found ourselves going into our second innings of batting, just sitting here now and saying we’re 1-0 up, I feel this 100 per cent is our greatest triumph since I’ve been captain.”
The heroes for England were Ollie Pope, who made 196 in his first game back after a serious shoulder injury, Delight: England celebrate as Tom Hartley bowls Srikar Bharat in his seven for 62; (inset) Ben Stokes and Tom Hartley, who overcame being hit for six in his opening delivery to become the first English spinner since Jim Laker in 1948 to take seven wickets on debut. The 24-yearold from Lancashire finished with match figures of nine for 193.
Stokes said: “I’ve been lucky enough to see a lot of Joe Root innings in subcontinent conditions but unfortunately now he’s slipped down to two or three behind Popey. An amazing week, but also since becoming vice-captain, he’s done an incredible job with that this week as well. I keep going to him to throw ideas, plans, what he sees.
“The situation we found ourselves in, coming in at No3, some of the shots we’ve seen, that whole innings, 190 on such a difficult wicket. He was able to manipulate
the field with his sweep shots – reverse sweeps, normal sweeps – and the way he was able to rotate the strike… for me, that’s the greatest innings that’s ever been played in the subcontinent by an English batsman.”
Rahul Dravid, the India coach who scored 13,288 Test runs, was full of praise for Pope.
“That was an exceptional innings,” he said. “I haven’t seen a better exhibition of sweeping and reverse-sweeping ever in these conditions against that quality of bowling… I just want to shake his hand and say, ‘Incredibly well done’.”
Pope reflected on a “dream” return, saying his fifth Test century was “head and shoulders above the other four” after a tough first innings in which he made just one.
“I had shoulder surgery, so I’ve had a long time to prepare for this series and make some adjustments to what I produced the last time we were here three years ago,” he said. “I’ve worked hard on my game and tried to tailor my technique for these conditions.”
Hartley also had a tough first innings, but Stokes kept throwing him the ball and he got the results on the fourth day as he took seven wickets, including the first four.
Stokes said: “The game plan there is we’re out here for a long tour and this is going to be a long game, so I was willing to give him the longer spell regardless of what had happened, because I knew I was going to have to turn back to him at some point throughout this match. Allowing him to have the longer spell at the start was almost justification to say, ‘You know, what I was telling you before the game started is going to happen.’
“Whether or not that was the reason he got seven wickets and won us the game this innings, who knows? But that was the thought process behind it and giving the people we select complete backing and not going back on the words that we speak.”
Hartley covered for Jack Leach, the front-line spinner who picked up a nasty knee injury on the first day. Stokes also gave Leach special praise. “He’s been an absolute warrior this week. What he’s had to go through to just be standing on the field, but also bowling overs, taking some very important wickets at different stages.
“Where he is with his body right now, and the output we’ve seen and the commitment he’s shown to everyone else, is inspiring, amazing. He is an absolute legend who epitomises what I want everyone’s focus to be on, which is the team above individual success.
“He was disappointed and upset that he could not give a full account of himself because he thought he was letting people down, but I think that is testament to his character, and what this team means to everybody.”