With the England team suffering only their tenth defeat in 41 Tests under head coach Brendon McCullum since May 2022 with the six-run loss against India in the fifth and final Test at The Oval on Monday, it also meant that the England team only drew a series for the fourth time since 2022. With the hosts placed at 339 for 6 at the start of the fifth day’s play, Indian pacers Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna made sure that the Shubman Gill led Indian team won the fifth Test by six runs and helped India to tie the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2-2. Former England captain Michael Vaughan shared how a fit Ben Stokes would have taken England home if he was playing and how he sees the final day’s play as the England team panicking.
“This morning, Ben Stokes in that team, England would’ve won this Test match. He plays such a big role in this team, the mentality. You go through this morning and England did panic. They just needed one partnership. They panicked in the way that they can with the way that they play, they play with a huge amount of aggressiveness. Yesterday afternoon, the Harry Brook dismissal did cause that collapse, but it’s the way England play,” Vaughan told BBC’s Test Match Special.
Prior to Brendon McCullum taking over as England head coach, England had just one win from their previous 17 Tests. The England team had won 23 out of the 36 Tests with McCullum as head coach since 2022 and had come into the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy with a win against Zimbabwe in the one-off Test in May. Prior to the final Test at The Oval, England captain Ben Stokes was ruled out of the series due to a torn shoulder with pacers Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse being rested for the final Test. With England set to play the Ashes against Australia in Australia later this year, Vaughan sees this series as a series helping the England team set more pieces in place. “It’s been a tremendous five matches for England. You’ve got to be realistic, this week they were down to 10 men, lost one of their bowlers early, and not got Ben Stokes. You’re looking at the team going to Australia and I think there’s more pieces in place. We’ll arrive in Perth for that first Test and know the top seven. It’s just a matter of the bowling attack and getting that right. Clearly Ben Stokes is going to have to get fit. With Ben Stokes in the England side they can beat anybody. Without him, they can lose to anybody,” Vaughan added.
England were looking on course towards a historic win with Harry Brook and Joe Root taking England to 301 for 3 on the fourth day before Brook was caught by Mohammed Siraj off the bowling of Akash Deep. Prior to that, Brook had scored 118 runs off 98 balls and his dismissal meant that England lost two more wickets including Joe Root before the end of the day’s play. Vaughan was of the view that Brook needs to dig in if a similar situation arises in the Ashes. “(Harry) Brook had that thought process that he wanted to hit 30 or 40 quick runs. What Harry needs to learn is in an Ashes series, in a similar situation, just win. I love the way he plays, his approach. At times, he’s a genius. He plays the game in a fashion not many have ever played. I don’t want to take away from his positivity and flamboyance. But in Sydney, if England are 2-1 up, dig in Harry,” Vaughan concluded.
