India vs England: Captain Ben Stokes ‘proud’ despite series defeat

England captain Ben Stokes said he was “proud” of his team despite a five-wicket loss in the fourth Test that sealed a series defeat in India.

The tourists are 3-1 down despite winning the first Test and having opportunities to win the other three.

India have stretched a 12-year unbeaten home record while inflicting Stokes’ first series defeat as captain.

“The 3-1 score doesn’t look great, but the way in which we’ve come at India is what I’m most proud of,” said Stokes.

“This young, inexperienced team has been successful over the past two years, but coming to India is a completely different beast, something that this team has not been exposed to.”

Set 192 to win, India were rocked by an England fightback on the fourth day in Ranchi.

The home side were 100-3 and 120-5, before an unbroken stand of 72 between Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel sealed India’s 17th consecutive home series win.

“We didn’t have a chance in hell of even competing with India, but even today that wasn’t an easy win for India and I think they would admit that,” Stokes told BBC Sport.

“I’m very proud of the way every player has thrown everything at India. No-one has ever taken a backward step.”

England were beaten despite having the better of the first two days of the fourth Test.

India fought back from 177-7 in their first innings, helped by Ollie Robinson’s crucial drop of Jurel, who made 90.

With a first-innings lead of 46, England were bowled out for just 155 in their second innings, undone by the high-quality spin of India’s Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja.

“Cricket is always skill against skill,” said Stokes. “Ashwin, Jadeja and Kuldeep and the conditions we found ourselves in against them were very, very challenging.

“When India have a sniff in conditions like that, any team is going to find it hard to not only keep the scoreboard ticking but rotate the strike. You’ve got to give them a lot of credit for the way in which they bowled in very favourable conditions. On this occasion, their skill was better than ours.”

Even with a modest target to defend, England had the opportunity to pull off a remarkable win when Shoaib Bashir took two wickets in as many balls after lunch on Monday, only for Gill and Jurel to compile their match-winning stand.

“We took wickets in clusters, and even with 30 runs left we knew that if we went ‘bang, bang’ all the pressure was back on India,” said Stokes. “I still believed we could win the game.”

Off-spinner Bashir, 20, was playing in only his second Test. After taking five wickets in the first innings he hinted at bowling England to victory in the second.

Meanwhile, left-arm spinner Tom Hartley, also playing in his first Test series, is the leading wicket-taker on either side with 20 victims.

“Before a ball was bowled in this series, there were a lot of question marks around the two selections,” said Stokes.

“They’ll be able to leave at the end of this tour with their heads held very high. We’ve got more exciting talent which is a great thing for English cricket.”

There is a break of more than a week before the fifth and final Test in Dharamsala begins on 7 March.