Enough spoken about absence of Rohit, Virat & Ashwin: Stokes

Dispelling the notion that India will be significantly weakened by the retirements of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin, England captain Ben Stokes acknowledged the depth in Indian cricket, saying his team still faces a tough challenge given the visitors’ “ginormous” talent pool.

“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.

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The star all-rounder felt it was natural for any side to miss stalwarts like Ashwin, Kohli and Rohit but India continue to produce high-quality players regularly.

“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.

Acknowledging the threat from India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, Stokes said his side won’t be focused entirely on handling the Indian ace, who is likely to feature in only three of the five Tests.

“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.

“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.