English pacer James Anderson made it clear that England will go all hell for leather when they come out to bat against India in a chase of 399 on Monday, the 4th day of the Test.
“The chat last night from the coach (Brendon McCullum) was that if they get 600, we were going to go for it. It makes it very 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. That’s the way we play, and we saw that tonight with Rehan (Ahmed) going out and playing his shots,” Anderson said.
“He wanted to get out there and chase those runs down, even tonight. We have set our stall out, tomorrow will be no different, we will play the same way we have (played) the last two years. Whether we win or lose, it’s not relevant because we are extremely competitive and want to win every game we play, but we want to play in a certain way,” the 41-year-old added.
See you tomorrow 🫡
🇮🇳 #INDvENG 🏴 | #EnglandCricket pic.twitter.com/tBL2OiNlHd
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) February 4, 2024
Talking about England’s Bazball approach, he said, “There’s been moments throughout the last 2 years, particularly in the last 12 months, that makes us think we’re doing something well because the way teams have reacted. Going back to the Ashes, first ball of the Ashes having point on the boundary sends a message to us we’re doing something right.
What an opportunity ahead.
Fourth innings. 332 more to win.
And you know we’re going for it 💪
🇮🇳 #INDvENG 🏴 | #EnglandCricket pic.twitter.com/Twij9vY7rW
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) February 4, 2024
“I don’t know if intimidating is the right word, but it’s putting different thoughts in opposition’s minds and captain’s minds. It definitely felt like that today – it felt like they were unsure what a good score would be against us. The wicket is still pretty good, the odd one’s keeping low but you expect that. Also what we’ve seen today is Shubman played brilliantly – it does show there’s still scores to be made out there,” he added.
England will come out of Day 4 with the intent of winning the match with a day to spare and go 2-0 up in the series. Rehan Ahmed and opener Zak Crawley will continue from where they left off, looking to get England off to a good start.