Stokes proud of England's 'rookie' spin attack despite defeat
"Looking at them, five or six Tests between them, to bowl the way they did yesterday without Joe - what they produced was incredible," Stokes said after India beat them by 106 runs to level the five-match series 1-1.
England captain Ben Stokes said he is proud of his inexperienced spinners, who gave a good account of themselves even in their defeat in the second Test against India on Monday.
Spin plays a crucial role in India and it was no different in the first two matches of the five-Test series with England going with only one fast bowler in each match.
England suffered a setback when Jack Leach, their spin spearhead, hurt his knee in the series opener in Hyderabad and was ruled out of the second Test in Visakhapatnam.
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To make it worse, part-timer Joe Root hurt his finger on Sunday and bowled just two overs in India's second innings.
Rehan Ahmed, playing his third Test, combined with Tom Hartley, who debuted in Hyderabad, and debutant Shoaib Bashir to claim 15 of the 20 Indian wickets, which pleased Stokes.
"Looking at them, five or six Tests between them, to bowl the way they did yesterday without Joe - what they produced was incredible," Stokes said after India beat them by 106 runs to level the five-match series 1-1.
"They showed a lot of maturity and skills beyond their years and I am very proud of them."
Veteran James Anderson, England's lone fast bowler in the conTest, also impressed in his 184th Test producing moments of exceptional seam bowling claiming five wickets.
Stokes doffed his hat at the craft and longevity of Anderson, who seemed locked in a battle for one-upmanship with India counterpart Jasprit Bumrah.
"Anderson was amazing," Stokes said.
"You look at him and the way that Jasprit Bumrah this week, you are watching two incredible bowlers.
"Jasprit is obviously on the opposing side but sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and say, what a player. But Jimmy is exactly that as well."
England were on the back foot after conceding a lead of 143 but chasing an improbable 399, they frequently put the Indian bowlers under pressure with their aggressive batting.
"There are times when you have scoreboard pressure and a lot of runs to chase down, and that's when our approach and how we want to go about things really comes out," Stokes said.
"I thought today, we applied ourselves and put their bowlers under pressure and it was great."
