If there's one rule, it's got to be the same rule for everyone: Ben Stokes

England allrounder Ben Stokes feels there should be evenness while dealing with disciplinary issues and pointed out that the English camp believes the International Cricket Council (ICC) has been harsh on the visitors while the Indians have been let off. Ravichandran Ashwin had quite an altercation with James Anderson when the latter walked out to bat but while Stokes was reprimanded, the umpires didn’t take notice in Ashwin’s case.

Talking about imposing a fine on everyone and anyone who crosses the line Stokes said, “I think that side of the game can be jumped on, and people get slapped with fines,” he said. “If you’re going to do someone, you’ve got to do the next person, no matter who they are and who they play for. It’s part of the game, so I don’t see any reason why they should clamp down on it so quickly.

“If there’s one rule, it’s got to be the same rule for everyone. It can’t just be that certain people get away with certain things, and other people don’t get away with them.”

In the Mohali Test Stokes made a gesture covering his mouth when he dismissed the Indian skipper Virat Kohli and in the next inning Kohli returned favor as Ashwin scalped Stokes. But the English allrounder wasn’t quite impressed and rather made fun of it. “He looked like he was picking his nose when he did the quiet comment after I did it before him, but there’s been nothing else,” said Stokes.

Having been fined and given a demerit point Stokes said he has probably learnt to not swear near the stump mike. “I’m constantly getting told to not swear next to the stump mike.”

Despite what happened between them Stokes agreed that Kohli has been exceptional with his batting and deserves to be applauded. “You can’t say too much to a bloke who’s got 600 runs in the series. You’ve got to hold your hands up to him and appreciate the player he is.”

England are down 3-0 and the Indians would want to make it 4-0 at Chennai but Stokes said they will out there to win even if it’s a dead rubber. “We’re a team that will want to go home 3-1, not 4-0,” he said. “It’s not going to be a case of walking out there and letting them walk all over us. We want to win this game as much as we’ve wanted to win every other game so far.

“But losing isn’t the way you want to go about things. We’re disappointed to be going back to England after the way things have gone out here.” Stokes said.