'Bhai tu cheerleader banja mast excitement' - Ben Stokes shows no regret over 1st innings declaration in 1st Ashes Test because it gave 'excitement' on Day 5

England (Source: Twitter)

England maintained their 'bazball' approach with an attacking mindset, while Australia took everything without changing their style, and the result was an incredible encounter to start the Ashes 2023. On Tuesday, the 2021-23 World Test Championship (WTC) champions secured a thrilling two-wicket win on Day 5 of the first Test at Edgbaston. England has something to look back on as Australia take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Since Brendon Mccullum and Ben Stokes took over the reigns of England cricket, their style of playing Tests has drastically changed. Their skipper proved that 'baseball' is about playing big shots and making bold decisions. However, this has somewhat backfired for Stokes and his team, as several pundits have already pointed out that England made the wrong decision to declare the first innings on Day 1.

Having won the toss and elected to bat first, the English batters showed their intent right from the start by taking on the Aussie bowlers. With Jonny Bairstow and Zak Crawley hitting their 'ODI style' half-centuries and Joe Root notching up his 30th Test hundred, the hosts were 393-8 after 78 overs. They had a chance to score another 30-40 runs with two wickets remaining, including Root, who remained unbeaten at the crease.

I'm a captain who sees that as an opportunity to pounce: Stokes

However, Stokes made a surprise declaring decision on Day 1 to send Australia into bat for a short period. While many criticised the decision, Stokes defended it, saying he saw it as an opportunity to "pounce on Australia".

"Yeah. I'm a captain who sees that as an opportunity to pounce on Australia. No opening batter likes to go out for 20 minutes before the close of the play," the all-rounder said.

While admitting that the declaration did not go as expected for his team, Stokes said the decision had sparked excitement on Day 5.

"The way in which we played and took Australia on allowed us to do that. You know, I could also turn around and say if we didn't declare, would we have got that excitement that we did at the end of Day 5, I'm not 100 per cent sure, but I am not going to be looking back on this game as you know 'what ifs'," he added.

Here's how fans reacted to Ben Stokes' remarks after losing the first Test of Ashes 2023:

Honestly in my opinion, the 1st innings declaration costs @ECB_cricket the match.



Had they scored another 50-60 runs there, this would have been their match.

— AkhileshKumar Singh (@iakhileshksingh) June 21, 2023

Amazing mindset. Playing to get result and absolute entertainment.

No doubts there are so many in the crowds enjoying test once again.

— Grim Reaper (@PimPom93) June 21, 2023

I was also surprised with that decision at that time. But what stokes did was right... (imo)

— 🔥 (@Srhandklfan) June 21, 2023

Reality is that the approach backfired!

— Kriti Sharma (@Kriti_Sharma01) June 21, 2023

as if he already knew that it will rain on last day, he made a mistake, now just finding the excuses

— ਦਿਲਜੋਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਬਾਜਵਾ (@Dbajwa07) June 21, 2023

So England are playing for Entertainment🗯️

— P R A T I K. (@pratik_1609) June 21, 2023

Bhai tu cheerleader banja mast excitement aur entertainment hogi🤡

— Chalak Billu (@chalakbilllllu) June 21, 2023

Yes they should carry on the current bazball approach it makes test cricket so interesting to watch 💯💯💯💯

— P.E.K.K.A (@ex_gamer_45) June 21, 2023

Blud actually thought he is Virat Kohli level Captain but he ended up being like Ms dhoni 😭

— akshat (@StanVirat) June 20, 2023

Great.. thats arrogance for you.. greats learn from mistakes.. arrogant dictators have always defended their wrong decisions...

— Ramkrishna Iyer (@KannanK51531500) June 21, 2023

hahaha he had regrets at stumps on day 1

— Munjit Singh (@iam_mnjt) June 20, 2023