James Anderson has revealed coach Brendon McCullum’s strong message to the side ahead of day three as England feel well and truly in the game, according to the pacer.
On the third day of the second Test between India and England in Visakhapatnam, Shubman Gill’s exceptional century was the highlight, propelling India to a formidable lead.
Despite Anderson’s impressive early spell, where he claimed two wickets and nearly had Gill, the young Indian batter survived and went on to score 104 runs from 147 balls.
His innings included 11 fours and two sixes, as he put India in a strong position. England would claw their way back into the game on either side of the tea break as India lost the four wickets for just 28 runs. England’s spinners Tom Hartley and Rehan Ahmed also made significant contributions, taking four and three wickets respectively.
India eventually ended their second innings at 255 all out, setting England a record target of 399 runs to win. England ended the day at 67-1, with Zak Crawley and ‘Nighthawk’ Rehan Ahmed at the crease, giving themselves a glimmer of hope.
However, they faced an uphill battle as no touring team has ever chased down more than 276 runs to win a Test match in India.
The England pacer talked to TNT Sports after the end of day’s play and said that McCullum told them last night to try and chase down any score posted by India at the end. Anderson feels that the visitors did well on day three and said they would give a crack at chasing down the total on Monday.
“We feel well in the game.”
“We got sat down by the coach [Brendon McCullum] last night and he said, ‘if India get 600 ahead, we’re going to try and chase it down’. And that’s exactly what we’re going to try and do.”
“We stuck to our task really well today. They put on a partnership at one point but the way the spinners kept going, kept toiling, was brilliant. Now we’re in a great position and we’re going to give it a good crack tomorrow,” said Anderson.
