IND vs ENG: This is the best victory since I’ve taken over, says Ben Stokes after 1st Test win

Stokes highlighted that it was England’s comeback after conceding a 190-run lead which made the win sweeter.

Ben Stokes celebrates after winning the first Test match. | Photo Credit: KVS GIRI/The Hindu

England captain Ben Stokes rated the side’s 28-run win against India in the first Test as its best victory under his captaincy.

“We did have some remarkable wins in the recent past but this is definitely No. 1. We have been part of some amazing games over the last two years, have had some incredible victories,” Stokes said after the match here on Sunday.

“But, considering where we are, who we played, and the position we found ourselves going into our second innings, we can sit here now and say, we’re gonna win a lot. I think that’s a big reason as to why I feel this is our best victory since I’ve taken over as captain,” Stokes added.

Stokes heaped praised on Ollie Pope and Tom Hartley. Pope’s 196-run knock helped England set up a stiff target for India, before Hartley’s seven-fer dismantled India’s top order and set up the win.

“The most important thing above any individual successes is the outcome for the team. But, that does not take away from how well Ollie Pope played,” he said on Pope’s match-winning century. “I am committed to the decision (of playing left-arm spinner Tom Hartley who made his Test debut). I think in his first spell in Test cricket against a quality team, he played incredibly well,” he said.

Stokes said that his team’s priority over the five-match series will be to enjoy itself.

“We put in all that work in Abu Dhabi and that pre-camp, and then when we arrived here, it was kind of just trying to enjoy it. I think that’s probably allowed us to come back from that. That big deficit that we did have. And, that’s exactly what we want to do as a team. And, we’ll keep doing it hopefully in the future,” Stokes said.