James Anderson has disclosed Brendon McCullum's clear cut message conveyed to the team before Day 3 of the second Test between India and England, indicating that Ben Stokes' side believes they are still very much in the game. Shubman Gill's impressive hundred made headlines on Day 3 of the second Test against England in Visakhapatnam, which helped India take a substantial lead in the game.
Despite Anderson's impressive performance in the early stages, where he secured two wickets and came close to dismissing Gill, the young Indian batter managed to survive and eventually scored 104 runs from 147 balls. Gill innings featured 11 fours and two sixes, helped India hand England a challenging 399-run target to chase. However, England managed to claw their way back into the game, particularly on either side of the tea break, as India lost four wickets for a mere 28 runs. England's spinners, Tom Hartley and Rehan Ahmed, also played pivotal roles, claiming four and three wickets, respectively.
India ultimately concluded their second innings, being bowled out for a total of 255, thereby setting England an unprecedented target of 399 runs for victory. By the end of the day, England had reached a score of 67/1, with Zak Crawley and the resilient 'Nighthawk,' Rehan Ahmed, at the crease, offering a glimmer of hope for their side.
Nevertheless, England faced an immense challenge, as no visiting team had ever successfully chased more than 276 runs to win a Test match in India.
Following the day's play, England pacer James Anderson spoke with TNT Sports and revealed that coach Brendon McCullum had conveyed a message the previous night, urging the team to attempt a chase of any total posted by India. Anderson expressed his satisfaction with England's performance on day three and confirmed their intention to make a concerted effort to chase down the target on Monday if India builds a lead of 600 runs.
"We feel well in the game," Anderson said.
"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 added.
"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," James Anderson concluded.
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