England lose first test series under Ben Stokes’ captaincy: Player Ratings for the Visitors

The English cricket team had a tough time in the subcontinent as they lost the five-match series 4-1. However, the Poms avoided a whitewash as they won the first match, thanks to Tom Hartley’s seven-wicket haul. The series loss was England’s first since Ben Stokes was named England’s permanent test skipper in 2022 after Joe Root stepped down from the role. 

Numerous problems and loopholes also came forward in front of head coach Brendon McCullum as England is currently in the 8th spot in the WTC table. However, without further delay, let’s take a look at the report card of the England players for the five-match series: 

Top Order

Zak Crawley (7/10): Zak Crawley didn’t get a favorable start in Hyderabad as he was dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin on a score of 20 runs. However, Crawley scored two important half-centuries in the second test but failed to save the English team from losing the match. Despite valiant efforts in the last three matches, the Englishman failed to lead his side towards glory.

Nevertheless, Crawley was England’s highest scorer in the five-match test series as he garnered 407 runs in 10 innings with an average of 40. He also scored four half-centuries and his highest score was 79. 

Ben Duckett (6/10): Ben Duckett accompanied Crawley as an opening batter in all five matches of the series. In the first test, he scored 35 & 47 runs in two innings respectively. However, his best innings came in the third test, where he scored 153 runs off 151 deliveries. 

Moreover, he was England’s second-highest scorer in the series as he scored 343 runs with an average of 34.4 in ten innings. Interestingly, apart from the century, Duckett failed to score any other half-century in the series. 

Ollie Pope (5/10): In the first test, Ollie Pope played a magnificent 196-run innings off 278 deliveries and guided the English cricket team towards their only win of the series. However, the right-handed batter struggled to play another such heroic innings throughout the series. 

After the 196-knock, his best score was 39 runs which he scored in the first innings of the third test. In addition to that, in the fourth test, Pope got out on a duck in both innings, by Akash Deep in the first and Ashwin in the second. Pope garnered a total of 315 runs in the five-match series against India. 

Middle Order

Jonny Bairstow (2/10): A lot of expectations were tied with the name of Jonny Bairstow ahead of the five-match test series. However, Bairstow failed to fill up the expectations. His best score was 39 runs as he struggled massively against Indian spinners. Bairstow had the responsibility to hold the middle-order, however, he only scored 238 runs in the series. 

Ben Stokes (2/10): England’s tour of India was a complete mess for Ben Stokes as the Poms lost their first test series under the Englishman’s captaincy. On an individual basis, the English skipper scored 70 runs in the first innings of the inaugural match, which was his highest score in the series. 

Stokes then struggled to play reliable innings throughout the series as it was his only half-century also. In ten innings, he scored only 199 runs with a disappointing average of 19.9. The English skipper also tried bowling as he bowled five overs and picked up the wicket of Rohit Sharma. 

Ben Foakes (4/10): Ben Foakes also had a forgettable campaign in India as he scored 205 runs in five matches, where his highest score was 47. Nevertheless, Foakes was active behind the wickets as he had 16 dismissals as a wicketkeeper in the five-match series. 

All-rounders

Joe Root (5/10): The former English skipper fulfilled the role of an all-rounder during the series. Root failed to score good runs in the first test, however, he picked up five wickets as his figures in the first innings were 79/4. Root bowled a mammoth sum of 118 overs throughout the series, in which he took eight wickets. 

Joe Root completed a four-wicket haul in the first test against India

While on the batting front, the Englishman faced other challenges. At times, Root tried settling up against the Indian bowling line-up, however, he majorly failed to do so. With one ton and a half-century, Root scored a total of 310 runs in ten innings. The former English test captain also took 10 catches during the series. 

Rehan Ahmed (3/10): Rehan Ahmed played three games for England during the five-match series. The bowling all-rounder took 11 wickets in six innings and his best figures were 3/65. However, on the batting side, he only accumulated a total of 76 runs and his best score was 28. 

Ollie Robinson (3/10): Ollie Robinson only played the fourth test for England, where he scored 58 runs in the first innings. However, in the second innings, he was dismissed for a duck by Kuldeep Yadav. He also bowled 13 overs during the match where he leaked 54 runs and failed to take any wickets. 

Bowlers

Tom Hartley (6/10): Tom Hartley was England’s hero who guided the Poms towards their only victory in the series. In the first test, he took a total of nine wickets, however, his 7/62 spell in the second innings emerged as a highlight of the series. 

Moreover, Hartley was the only bowler in the series who completed a seven-wicket haul. The slow left-arm orthodox bowler picked up a total of 22 wickets in the series and he also bowled 250 overs in five matches which was the highest by any bowler. Interestingly, Hartley also scored 185 runs during the series and was a handy batter in the lower order.

Jack Leach (4/10): Jack Leach only played the first match of the series, where he picked up two wickets conceding 96 runs in 36 overs. The left-arm spinner was injured and ruled out of all the remaining tests. 

Shoaib Bashir took 17 wickets in his debut test series for England

Shoaib Bashir (7/10): Shoaib Bashir made his test debut for England against India in the 2nd test, which was played in Vishakhapatnam. In his debut match, Bashir took four wickets as his notable dismissals were Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. Nevertheless, the 20-year-old spinner has a decent debut series as he picked up 17 wickets against India, completing two five-wicket hauls. 

James Anderson (3/10): Veteran English bowler James Anderson played four matches in the series as he missed the first test. In the second test, Anderson bowled a total of 35 overs, in which he took five wickets. 

However, in the third test, he only managed to take a single wicket and his performance started declining. In a total of seven innings, Anderson took ten wickets, conceding 335 runs in 110 overs. However, it was a memorable series for the Englishman as he became the first fast bowler to complete 700 test wickets.

Mark Wood (2/10): In limited overs cricket, Mark Wood has become a crucial part of the English bowling line-up. However, in test cricket, the Englishman failed to leave a mark. In five innings, Wood only took four wickets. Interestingly, he took all four wickets in the first innings of the third match as he was wicketless on all other four occasions.