Follow UsThe Ashes began with a deep point being placed by Pat Cummins in anticipation of the England openers playing Bazball. Now, it’s the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma’s turn to have his strategies questioned and be criticised for being a docile captain.
“Don’t know if intimidating is the right word, but it did put in some different thoughts in opposition and their captains’ mind,” said James Anderson after England ended Day 3 of the Vizag Test with 67/1 in their second innings, chasing a big score of 399.
But is anything big for the team that only recently scored 378 in the fourth innings against India in Birmingham and already has a reputation for nailing down fourth innings chases for fun?
England coach Brendon McCullum had something to say regarding that, which Anderson told the press.
“The chat last night from the coach was that if they get 600, we were going to go for it. It makes it clear to everyone that we will try to do it tomorrow. I know there are 180 overs left in the game, but we will try to do it in 60 or 70.”
While Anderson’s optimism radiated the effervescent atmosphere in their dressing room, he didn’t miss his chance to show that his team’s tactics had put the opposition on the back foot.
“I think the nerves were there to see today, the way they batted. I think they didn't know how many was enough. They were quite cautious, even when they had a big lead.”
England began their 399 chase in a fashion that echoed McCullum’s diktat for his team. Ben Duckett scored at more than run a ball throughout his innings before succumbing to R. Ashwin, and Zak Crawley continued to play at a high tempo. Even night watchman Rehan Ahmed hit two boundaries (one of them collected by him courtesy of an edge on the last ball of the day) in the last over of the day, throwing the entire idea of a night watchman out of the window.
“That's how we play, and we saw that tonight with Rehan [Ahmed] going out and playing his shots. Even tonight, he wanted to get out there and chase those runs down. We have set our stall out; tomorrow will be no different. We will play the same way we have the last two years.”
Anderson believed that the wicket is still pretty good to play on, and he backed his batters to go out there and complete the record chase.
“The wicket is still pretty good, the odd ones' keeping low, but you expect that. Also, from what we saw today, Shubman played brilliantly. It does show there are still scores to be made out there. We've got so much quality in our dressing room, and there are guys in there who can maybe get 150 for us tomorrow and win us the game. We're really happy.”