England National Cricket Team skipper Ben Stokes came up with a bizarre 'subcontinent pitch' excuse after the loss to the India National Cricket Team in the second Test of the five-match series.
Ben Stokes has invited severe criticism with the bizarre excuse, and the former India National Cricket Team opening batsman Aakash Chopra, along with several cricket fans, have lashed out at the English skipper.
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The Three Lions entered the Birmingham Test high on confidence from their stunning victory at Headingley in Leeds and received a further boost when India decided to rest Jasprit Bumrah.
Still, at the end of Day 5, England ended up on the wrong side of the result as they were thoroughly outplayed by the Shubman Gill-led Indian team.
England bowlers struggled on the batting-friendly pitch and allowed the visitors to pile up 587 runs in the first innings, and in response, England could only score 407.
Then, the Shubman Gill & Co. piled the misery on England by scoring 427 for 6 and setting up a target of 608 runs, which the hosts couldn't chase and got bowled out for 271, facing a 336-run loss.
Speaking on the BBC Test Match Special after the match, Ben Stokes said that the Edgbaston pitch acted like a subcontinental surface, which favored the Indian bowlers more.
“To be honest, it's probably ended up being more of a subcontinent pitch as it's got deeper and deeper into the game. You know, there certainly a little bit in it to start off with, and I think we exposed that very, very well early on."
It became a real tough slog for us - Ben Stokes
Ben Stokes further said that the Indian bowling attack was better equipped to utilise the 'subcontinent pitch' in Birmingham, and things got tougher for England as the match progressed.
"But yeah, then just as it sort of got deeper and deeper, it just, yeah, it became a real tough slog for us and obviously, with the Indian attack and the conditions that they' used to, they were used to and used some of how to expose those conditions, just sort of a little bit better than that can happen sometimes,” he added.
Notably, the top wicket-taker for England in the match was spinner Shoaib Bashir, who managed to register the bowling figures of 2/119 and 3/167. In the batting side of things, Jamie Smith shone with his epic 184* and 88.
Quite interesting to call it a sub-continental pitch - Aakash Chopra
Ben Stokes' bizarre remarks didn't sit well with the fans and cricket experts, and they slammed the England captain as a 'crybaby' for giving excuses.
Meanwhile, the cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra found Stokes' remarks interesting and highlighted that only two wickets were taken by the Indian spinner on the so-called 'subcontinent pitch'. He stated:
"Only two wickets for Indian spinners in two innings. Quite interesting to call it a sub-continental pitch."
Only two wickets for Indian spinners in two innings. Quite interesting to call it a sub-continental pitch. t.co/76yNClvZa5
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) July 6, 2025Notably, Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep shared all 10 wickets between them in the first innings, and in the last innings, Akash got 6 wickets while Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ravindra Jadeja, and Washington Sundar got one each.
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