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No team in Test history has successfully chased more than 378 against India in the fourth innings of a match. No team in Test history has successfully chased more than 387 in India in the fourth innings of a match. And no team in Test history has successfully chased more than 395 in Asia in the fourth innings of a match. Yet, as crazy as it may sound, England are still very much in the chase. Why? Because no team has ever approached a chase of 399 runs against India in the final innings with such sheer confidence. And it may be down to the inspiring pep talk that head coach Brendon McCullum had with the side heading into Day 3 in Visakhapatnam.
Having invited England for the record chase in the final hour of the third evening, India hoped to snare quick wickets and cripple their hopes of a Bazball miracle in the second Test. However, the opening pair of Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett stitched a second consecutive half-century stand, the first-ever visiting pair to score 50 or more runs together for the first wicket in both the innings of a Test match in India since Alastair Cook and Nick Compton at the Wankhede in 2012.
Ravichandran Ashwin did provide India with a breakthrough, dismissing Duckett, but Rehan Ahmed, who was promoted as the ‘night hawk’, managed two quick boundaries against Axar Patel in the final over of Day 3 as England ended the proceedings on 67 for 1 in 14 overs, thus trailing by 332 runs.
With commentators recalling England comfortably chasing 378 against India two years back, which remains the highest successful chase against the side, veteran fast bowler James Anderson revealed McCullum’s message to the team on the eve of Day 3.
“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,” he said at the end if day’s play on Sunday. “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.”
In the Bazball era, England have attained the impossible, but if they manage to hunt down the target in Visakhapatnam, it will surely stand out as their greatest-ever achievement.
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