Bazball propaganda? Ben Stokes claims England's defeat in India doesn't 'give enough credit'

Ben Stokes has claimed his England's fourth Test defeat in India didn't give 'enough credit' to their nation's performance.

The England captain lost his first series of the 'Bazball' era under Brendon McCullum as India earned an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-Test series.

England had India on the ropes at 5-120 chasing 192 in the fourth Test, before Shubman Gill and Dhutav Jurel steered the home side to victory with an unbeaten 72-run partnership.

MORE: Ashes: Embarrassing England only have themselves to blame after Australia's urn triumph

Since becoming England's skipper, Stokes has become notorious for positively regarding defeats to his team, particularly as Australia retained the Ashes last year.

His summation of the fourth Test against India continued that narrative.

"I think it was a great Test match - the scoreline says India win by five wickets but I don’t think that gives enough credit to sum up the game as a whole," Stokes stated post-match at the presentation.

"The series has shown a lot of talent, for us and India. I love Test cricket and we’ve seen some young, inexperienced players perform and the future looks bright in this format."

After winning the opening Test in the series, England fell well short in the following two Tests, before letting India escape in the fourth match with the pressure on.

Stokes was still pleased with his team's performance, claiming that no one gave England a 'chance in hell' of winning the fourth Test after India accumulated an 190-run lead after the first innings from both nations.

"But even today that wasn’t an easy win and I think they (India) would admit that," Stokes said.

"We’ve been good in periods, yesterday with the bat, I don’t want to say impossible because I don’t think anything is impossible, but that was incredibly hard yesterday when you get conditions against Ashwin, Jadeja and Kuldeep like that."

How many Test series have England won under Brendon McCullum and Bazball?

McCullum's appointment as England's Test team head coach was complemented by promoting Stokes as the captain of the Test team after Joe Root has resigned from the role. 

In the Stokes-McCullum era, England have played 22 Tests, winning 14, losing seven, and drawing one.

So far, England have contested in eight Test series including the ongoing Test series against India. The only Test played between India and England in 2022 was a continuation of the five-match Test series that took place in 2021. However, due to COVID-19 issues, the 5th Test of that series was postponed to 2022. 

Of those seven Test series, five took place in England, of which England won three and drew two. 

Although they were playing at home, they played quality sides in the form of New Zealand, South Africa, India and Australia. 

Their away record doesn't have a big sample size. Their 3-0 whitewash of Pakistan in Pakistan and the 1-1 series draw against New Zealand are the only two away Test series, with the ongoing Test series against India being England's third away series in the Stokes-McCullum era. 

England lost their first-ever Test series in Bazball on February 26 when India won the fourth Test match of the ongoing five-match series in Ranchi. With the win, India clinched the series 3-1.

*the India-England 2024 Test series is still in progress