"From chasing 600 to losing by an innings, Baz-bowled" - Top 10 funny memes after England's embarrassing innings defeat in 5th Test vs India
The Ben Stokes-led England team faced the wrath of fans on social media after their deflating loss against India in the fifth Test in Dharamshala on Saturday (March 9). The hosts beat them comprehensively by an innings and 64 runs to win the five-match series by a 4-1 margin.
England started Day 3 of the fifth Test on a positive note by picking up the remaining two wickets in India's first innings quickly, conceding only four runs. India got all out for 477, taking a lead of 259 runs at the halfway stage of the match. The lead proved to be too much for the visiting side.
Ravichandran Ashwin scalped three wickets with the new ball to trigger a top-order collapse, leaving the English team reeling at 36/3 in their second innings. Yorkshire men Jonny Bairstow (39) and Joe Root arrested the fall of wickets for a while with their 56-run partnership. Bairstow took the aggressive route and hit a couple of massive sixes before Kuldeep Yadav castled him out for the second time in the match.
The English batting line-up did not show much fight after that, barring Joe Root, who played a fine knock of 84 (128). He departed as the final wicket in the 49th over as England got bundled out for 195.
Fans brutally trolled the Bazball approach after England's dismal series loss against India. They expressed such views by sharing hilarious memes on social media platforms.
Here are some of the best memes:
"Not necessarily worried" - England captain Ben Stokes after losing series against India
At the post-match presentation, English captain Ben Stokes acknowledged that they were beaten by a better team. He is keen on moving on by taking the learnings from the series without worrying about the outcome. Stokes said:
"We've been outplayed by a better team, I think now with me who I am and how I look at things, with so much cricket coming up, Pakistan and New Zealand, taking the positives from series, something that I'll take it forward and move on.
"Not necessarily worried, as a series on whole, there were small moments that we couldn't keep ourselves on top, trying to understand and be a bit more relentless, we all as individuals know that."
Shedding light on the positives for his side from the long series, Stokes added:
"Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett has been brilliant, Hartley and Bashir showed some real quality to the future. Bash has been exceptional, Hartley was brilliant. From personal point of view, it was great to be back on the field to bowl.
"Amazing to be on the field with Jimmy, being there for 700 wickets as a seamer is phenomenal, he's an inspiration for the youngsters, he's 41 years, he's the fittest I've ever seen, he's still got the desire and it's great to watch."
What did you make of England's performance in this series? Were they better than the previous teams that toured in 2016 and 2021? Let us know your views in the comments section below.