Image Credit- BCCI
Ben Stokes says his team never felt that their
ambitious fourth-inning aim in the second Test against India was too much, even
though that turned out to be the case.
Captain Stokes and his side started the fourth day in
Visakhapatnam with the characteristic self-belief that is the cornerstone of
their Bazball culture, even if they still needed 332 of the 399 set by the
hosts.
“Coming into this last innings we had full belief
in ourselves that we could go and chase that down,” Stokes said at the
post-match presentation. “The way in which we go about taking on
challenges like that is what we’re about and the number of runs that we needed
to get was just sort of another thing for us to try and try and chase down.
“In moments like that, in games when you’ve got
scoreboard pressure, a lot of runs to chase down, that’s where your process and
the way in which we know that we get the best out of ourselves as individuals,
that really comes out. And I thought the way in which we applied ourselves and
really tried to put India’s bowling attack under a lot of pressure was great.
Unfortunately, we didn’t end up on the right side of the result. Congrats to
India, I thought they played a fantastic game and, again, another great game to
be a part of.
“There’s no suggestion whatsoever about how to go
out and play, it’s go out and play how you best feel at a given time. We knew
the task ahead… and everyone in that dressing room there is a quality player
and they are good enough to be able to go out there, assess the conditions or
the situation and also assess how they’re feeling and how they best feel to go
about getting those runs.”
The fact that England had reduced their target by 67
runs for the loss of just one wicket (Ben Duckett on the third evening) and
that Zak Crawley appeared to be in good form gave Stokes even more
encouragement.
After scoring 76 runs in his opening innings, Crawley
was England’s leading scorer twice. However, Jasprit Bumrah’s timely
wicket-taking proved too much for England, as they eventually lost. In addition
to his six wicket haul from England’s opening innings, Bumrah took 3 for 46,
including the dangerous Jonny Bairstow on the stroke of lunch and Tom Hartley,
the last man to fall, to secure the victory. Nonetheless, Stokes claimed that
Crawley had personified how his team approached the fourth inning.
“That period last night when your openers have to
go out, it’s one of those, what do you do? But I think when you have that real
clarity, you’re able to see what they did last night,” Stokes added.
“We could have easily been 20 for none, and not lost a wicket, but the
game’s not really gone anywhere. Yes, we lost Duckett at the end of the day,
but we’ve knocked 60 runs off and that’s a huge deficit when you come to a new
day.
“But Zak, he started again this morning, he
sensed the threat in Bumrah early on and then when the spin came on, he looked
to assert his dominance a bit more. But a great game for him with the bat,
especially considering he’s someone who’s not been exposed to conditions like
these for the most part of his career. Very happy for him and I think it’s a
great stepping stone for him. “