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England's captain Ben Stokes admitted that he was confident of chasing down the daunting target of 399 against India on the demanding Visakhapatnam pitch during the second Test. Stokes remained optimistic even though they eventually suffered a 106-run defeat against India, as he believes that his team tends to perform at its best under scoreboard pressure. Despite the loss, England continued to stick to their aggressive 'Bazball' approach throughout the chase. However, apart from Zak Crawley, who contributed 73 runs, England batters faced difficulties in capitalising on their initial starts and converting them into substantial scores.
Ben Stokes still proud of England's Bazball approach
"We had full belief in ourselves that we could chase that down. The way we have gone about taking on challenges like that is what we are about," Stokes said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
"In moments like that, when you have scoreboard pressure, that is when we get the best out of ourselves as individuals," he added.
Stokes expressed great satisfaction with the way his team conducted themselves throughout the match, and he had no suggestions or advice to offer to his batters regarding their approach.
"The way we applied ourselves and put India under pressure was great, unfortunately we didn't end up on the right side of the result. There is no suggestion [from me] on how to go out and play. We knew there is a task ahead, knew there was 330 (332) to get, everybody in that dressing room is a quality player," Stokes stated.
Stokes all praise for Rehan, Bashir and Hartley
He praised his trio of inexperienced spin bowlers, consisting of Rehan Ahmed, debutant Shoaib Bashir, and Tom Hartley, stating that they appeared well-prepared for the challenges of international cricket.
"It wasn't a challenge (to captain them). I absolutely loved (it). To look at Tom, Bash and Rehan with three matches between them and watch them put in the performance yesterday was great. They showed a lot of maturity, a lot of skill," Stokes further said.
"They showed a lot of maturity, a lot of skill. (Anderson) Jimmy is amazing. You look at Jimmy, and Jasprit Bumrah, two great fast bowlers. Even when you are in the opposition, you put your hand up (for Bumrah). Jimmy is that player for us," England captain concluded.
Meanwhile, England has decided to stay and train in Abu Dhabi in UAE for the remaining three Test matches against India. The team will remain there until before the third Test, which is scheduled to begin in Rajkot on February 15. It is yet to be confirmed when the English players will travel to the UAE. The second Test between India and England was scheduled to be played from February 2 to February 6, but it ended within four days. Therefore, it is possible that the English team may return by February 6th evening or the morning of February 7.
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