ENG vs IND, 5th Test: England will continue playing attacking cricket, says Ben Stokes

England captain Ben Stokes has said his side will continue playing "attacking cricket" ahead of the Edgbaston Test against India.

Team India lead 2-1 with the fifth rescheduled Test set to begin on Friday (July 1) in Birmingham. It was part of a run that saw England win one Test in 17. However, under new skipper and coach – Stokes and Brendon McCullum – England are coming into the one-off Test after thrashing the World Test Champions New Zealand 3-0.

"We are going to carry on playing more attacking cricket. We just beat the best team in the world, New Zealand by 3-0 but India is a different opposition. But we are going to play the same way," said Stokes in the pre-match conference on Thursday.

Stokes, who recently took over England's charge after Joe Root stepped down, also admitted that they want their fans to enjoy watching them play. "We know that we need to win this game to level the series. We want to win every game that we play," the all-rounder added.

Just ahead of the fifth Test last year, the Indian camp was struck by a covid outbreak that saw the game to be postponed. Fast forward a year later, both the teams have new captains: Rohit Sharma for India and Stokes for England.

Unfortunately, Rohit contracted covid earlier this week and has not returned with a negative report as yet. The BCCI announced on Thursday that fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah will captain India in the fifth Test. He would become India's 36th Test captain and also the first pacer to lead India in the longest format since Kapil Dev in 1987.

Meanwhile, Stokes also spoke about the bigger picture ahead of the fifth Test, and that is "about Test cricket".

"It is a bit strange. It is different opposition but I made it very clear after the New Zealand series how we're going to do things and we're going to go out there and try to operate in the same way," Stokes told BBC Test Match Special.

The recent 3-0 victory over New Zealand saw England's aggressive approach, where they successfully completed the chases of 277, 299, and 296 with some ease.

"I know the bigger picture of it - trying to draw a series - but every game for me, so early on in my captaincy and trying to rebuild this team, is bigger than results. It is bigger than that - it is about Test cricket," added Stokes.

England have made two changes from the seven-wicket victory over New Zealand in the third Test at Headingley. Veteran pacer James Anderson, who missed the game due to an ankle injury, has returned, replacing Jamie Overton, who made his England in the third Test. Wicketkeeper-batsman Sam Billings, who was covid replacement for Ben Foakes during the Leeds game, has been retained.

"Foakes doesn't feel like he could give the best account of himself this week. We took the decision out of his hands and said, 'Get yourself better'," said Stokes.

When Foakes could not keep wickets on Day three of the third Test, Jonny Bairstow donned the gloves, but England want him just to "concentrate on batting".

"Jonny is in the form of his life - he's our best middle-order batter at the moment," added Stokes.