Stokes was pleased with England's approach in the fourth innings, despite ending on the losing side.
That was the outcome, but Ben Stokes says there was never a moment when his side believed the hefty fourth-innings target in the second Test against India was too much.
Captain Stokes and his team began the fourth day in Visakhapatnam with the trademark confidence that is at the heart of their Bazball ethos, chasing 332 from the hosts' 399.
Going into this last innings the team had full belief in themselves that they could chase this score, said Stokes at the post-match presentation. The way England approaches challenges like that is what they are all about. The number of runs needed to get was just another thing to try and chase.Stokes was encouraged by England's 67 runs for just one wicket - Ben Duckett's third - and Zak Crawley's fine partnership. The way England put themselves out and tried to put a lot of pressure on India's bowling attack was great. Unfortunately, it didn’t come out on the right side of the result.Crawley was twice top-scorer for England, adding 73 runs to his first-innings 76, but England were eventually outplayed by Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah took 3 for 46, including the lunch wicket of Jonny Bairstow and the last man out of Tom Hartley, as he added six wickets from England's first innings and sealed the win. But Stokes was quick to point out that Crawley was an example of his team's approach to the fourth innings.
England did lose Duckett at the end of the day, but the team did take 60 runs off and that's a big deficit when going into a new day.Stokes was also full of praise for his trio of young spinners, Hartley, Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed, as they took eight of India's second-innings as the hosts were bowled out for 255, with the more experienced Joe Root bowling just two overs of spin before succumbing to a right little finger injury sustained while fielding. James Anderson, the experienced seamer, took the other two as part of his five-wicket haul for the match.
The England squad will travel to Abu Dhabi to enjoy a break with their families before the third Test in Rajkot begins in 10 days.