“There’s more in the wicket for spinners than seamers” – Ben Stokes

England all-rounder Ben Stokes complimented the Indian pace bowling duo of Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah for toiling away on Day 2 of the Chennai Test.

England finished the day on 555 for 8 and, according to Ben Stokes, there isn’t much on the track for pace bowlers. Speaking after stumps, the 29-year-old said:

“There’s obviously more in the wicket for the spinners than the seamers, and you’ve got to give a lot of credit to Ishant and Bumrah for the way they run in. We’ll need to do that as well. Pleased to win the toss and put a total on the board.”

Ishant finished with figures of 2 for 52 in 27 overs while Bumrah claimed 2 for 81 in 31 overs. Ravichandran Ashwin and Shahbaz Nadeem also picked up two scalps apiece but bowled 50 and 44 overs respectively.

I’d rather get caught attacking than being defensive: Ben Stokes

As the bowling figures suggest, it was another day of domination for England as skipper Joe Root completed a double hundred. Stokes decided to be more aggressive during his stay out in the middle. He scored a swift 82 from 118 balls before being dismissed by Shahbaz Nadeem.

The England all-rounder stated that he made a conscious effort to be more attacking. Ben Stokes explained:

“I’m making sure I’m either getting right down the wicket or getting right back. Today, initially, it was a typical subcontinent wicket, but Nadeem got a couple to kick out of the rough, and I said to myself, ‘I’d rather get caught at deep square taking the attack to him rather than get caught short leg being defensive.’ “

Thanks to Root and Stokes, England finished Day 2 on 555 for 8. It is close to the target (600-700) the skipper had set after the end of the first day’s play.

Ben and Root featured in a 124-run stand for the fourth wicket to put England in command after they began the day on 263 for 3. Praising his skipper, who scored 218 in 377 balls, Ben Stokes added:

“It’s a bit frightening when you’re at the other end and he makes it look so easy. At the moment he’s in incredible form, and to play as well as he’s done in conditions that are alien to English batsmen, is phenomenal.”

Root broke some records during his stupendous innings, including becoming the first batsman to score a double hundred in his 100th Test.

Published 06 Feb 2021, 18:12 IST