Home
After England lost the series against Pakistan on October 26, a frustrated Ben Stokes acknowledged that his team could not match the challenges in the final two Test matches. In front of spinners Sajid Khan and Noman Ali, England utterly collapsed after controlling and winning the first Test. In Multan and Rawalpindi, England lost 40 wickets for a total of 814 runs after making 823 runs for 7 wickets in the first innings of the first Test.
Ben Stokes on series loss against Pakistan
Following Saturday's 9-wicket defeat, England captain Stokes commended Pakistan and stated that his team will try to meet the difficulties in the upcoming matches. All his teammates can do, according to the English captain, is to keep up their hard work.
"Disappointing, losing games and losing series’. We weren’t able to match the challenges in the last two games, credit to Pakistan. Moving forward, we’ll look to match those challenges as we come up against them. Couple of weeks time, we’ll be up against New Zealand. The summer finished late, the lads worked really hard but when you get out there in the middle it’s all really different. All you can do is work hard," said Stokes.
Stokes was prepared to look at the series' advantages in spite of the defeat. In addition to praising Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed for playing in front of their families, the England captain remarked that the series included some outstanding individual efforts.
"Whether you do well or not, you always try and take the positives out. Regardless of the result, there have been some unbelievable individual performances so certainly a lot to take out. You take that aspect and that look on it, Rehan and Bashir coming here to play cricket in front of family, it's something massive for them. They’re two incredible cricketers who’re just starting their career so it's massive for them," said Stokes.
England will now be facing New Zealand in a three-match Test series for their next assignment, which will start at the end of next month, on November 28.
