Karachi: England series 3-0 White wash It will take some time for Pakistan to sink in, skipper Ben Stokes said on Tuesday, calling the result “very special”.
The visitors easily chased down the 55 runs required to win the third Test and the series, winning the match by eight wickets and wrapping up victories in Rawalpindi and Multan by 74 runs and 26 runs.
“It won’t sink in until we get home or in the new year.” Stokes Said after England’s only second series whitewash in the subcontinent after a similar result in Sri Lanka in 2018.
“I know it’s a complicated thing, but being out in the subcontinent is one of the toughest places for him,” Stokes said.
“I think, and we think, what we’ve done is very special… To win 3-0 from here, it would be really proud.”
The win vindicated England’s decision to play bold and aggressive cricket known as “Bazball” after head coach Brendon McCullum’s nickname.
Under the new set-up of McCullum and Stokes, England have now won nine of their last 10 Tests since taking charge of a misfiring team that had won just one of their previous 17 – which Including the 4-0 Ashes humiliation in Australia.
Stokes said everything he tried came down to Pakistan’s slow and turning pitches.
Stokes said it was “the best thing” to see his strategy work in difficult conditions.
He had admiration for every one of them.
“I think everybody that played, at some point throughout the series, put their hand up and contributed to us winning a game,” he said.
“They’ve been amazing, too. The team is in a great place right now, where everybody wants everybody to succeed and everybody understands their position on the team — even if they’re playing.”
Stokes had warm words for leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, who at 18 years and 128 days became England’s youngest Test player and then the world’s youngest player to take five wickets on debut.
“For an 18-year-old to come into his first Test match and have such a cricket-aware mind – especially under the pressure of a Test match – was really good for us,” Stokes said.
“We’ve got an idea of what he can do with the bat as well. A very talented young man, and I think just let him develop.”