All reasons why unlike in 2023, the 0-2 deficit this time around seems a lot more dire for England than it did two and a half years ago. Like now, Stokes and his team continued to talk about hoping to come back into the series and hoping to get the job done even back then. That was when they were talking about moral victories as well. But then it still seemed like a very probable outcome, considering how close the two Tests had been at Edgbaston and at Lord’s. And also, the genuine swagger with which that English team was going about their work, in the heyday of Bazball.
