Leeds, June 20: England skipper Ben Stokes on Thursday said they don’t think the absence of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and R Ashwin makes India any lesser side as its “ginormous” talent pool is enough to fill the void. An under-transition India is set to take on Bazball-powered England when the first of the five Tests for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy gets underway here on Friday.The match will be the first assignment for the Shubman-Gill led side since Test retirements of Kohli, Rohit and Ashwin.
“There’s been a lot said about no Rohit, no Virat and no Ashwin, that doesn’t mean that we think it’s going to be any easier than what it ever is against India. The pool of talent that Indian cricket has is just ginormous,” Stokes told the media during the pre-match press conference.
Although Virat, Rohit and Ashwin have done amazing things for their country on the field, that doesn’t mean that whoever comes in to replace those individuals are going to be any less hard to bowl at or bat against, just because of how big the pool of talent is in India.
“We’ve spent a lot of time out at the IPL, so I know that there’s a lot of it. Obviously, three massive names, three people who have done wonderful things for their country, but it is not going to be any easier for us because of those three big names out there,” Stokes added.
Stokes acknowledged Jasprit Bumrah will be a threat to the English batting line-up but added that his side won’t be focused entirely on handling the Indian ace.
“Bumrah leading their attack, he’s a fantastic bowler but there (are) 11 players on the team, and it takes a team to win a game of cricket,” he said when asked if the focus of the fans will be on Bumrah given Kohli and Rohit are not a part of the touring party.
“But we know Bumrah is an amazing bowler all around the world. His record shows that, wherever he goes, he does well. We know Bumrah is going to be a threat, but we know that every other bowler that India has is also going to be a threat.
“Focusing on one individual over another isn’t what we’re going to be doing, but obviously, you pay respect to your opposition, and Jasprit Bumrah certainly is a fantastic bowler,” he added.
Stokes said it was not tough for him to pick Ollie Pope for No. 3 spot over Jacob Bethell, given the England vice-captain scored 171 in his last Test.
It would be remarkable to choose someone else if his last knock wasn’t 170. That’s pretty much all I need to say on that,” he said.
“Scoring 170 definitely doesn’t do anyone any harm. But I said this when I spoke about before the Zimbabwe Test, having him at No. 3 since I’ve been captain over a three-year period, averaging over 40s, speaks for itself,” Stokes added.
Stokes termed comeback all-rounder Chris Woakes as the “leader” of the England attack and highlighted that they haven’t lost a Test with the latter in the side.
“Since me and Baz (head coach Brendon McCullum) have been captain and coach, I don’t think we’ve actually lost a game with Woaksey in the team,” he said.
“That just proves how much of a valuable cricketer he is to any team that he turns out for. (With) him being the leader of the attack, he’s going to thrive off that responsibility. He’s a quality cricketer, the relentlessness that he has with the ball, whether that be new ball or old ball, and then having his ability with a back down on breaks, obviously, that’s important.”