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India have set a near-unachievable target for Ben Stokes' England. While a few criticised captain Shubman Gill's move to not declare after the lead crossed 500, Indian pacers claimed three wickets towards the end of Day 4's play. On Day 5, England need 536 more runs to chase down the gigantic target. Under the Bazball era, it has been made clear that the England team will now go for draws. However, England's assistant coach Marcus Trescothick understands the scoring at a rate of six runs per over in a Test run chase is challenging.
“We are always trying to be as positive as we can," Trescothick said in the press conference, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. “We all probably appreciate that it’s a hell of a lot of runs to try and score. It’s 550 [536] tomorrow and I don’t think we’ve seen scoring rates quite that quick in a day, so of course it will be challenging. But we’ve probably about another 10 to 15 overs of the balls at the hardest point before it gets a little bit soft, and then we’ll see how we’re going from that point, really."
Trescothick was asked whether England will accept a draw under current circumstances. The former England opener said that all three results are possible but they are not stupid to think its either win or lose.
“Whenever the situation is changing, of course it is. When you get to the point that you can [only] draw the game, of course. We’re not stupid enough to [think] that you have to just win or lose. There are three results possible in every game that you play. But we have done some things in our time that are different to what we’ve done before," he said.
Trescothick on media perception
Despite white-ball captain Harry Brook's comments on wins or draws, Trescothick said that the players in the dressing room believe about adapting to the situation accordingly. He feels that it is a perception created by the media.
“This has kind of built up away from probably what the changing room messages are," he said. “You guys have a perception of what you think goes on in the changing room, and we obviously understand it a little bit more [than] the perception of what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to give the players the best opportunity to win games every time that we go out to play, and then if we can’t do that, then we try and adapt accordingly, and plan ahead to what we’re going to try and do," he added.
On Day 5, Brook will decide the tempo of the game England intends to sent. He returned to the pavillion unbeaten on a run-a-ball 15. On the other end, Ollie Pope was batting on 24 off 44 balls.
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