England may have dragged themselves from the field at the end of day two 510 runs behind, but they also ended it declaring their absolute belief that this is still a game they can win.
Under Ben Stokes’s captaincy England have won all three matches when their opposition has scored 500 or more runs in an innings – something that had happened only six times in the previous 145 years – and Jeetan Patel, the team’s assistant coach, insisted the feeling in the dressing room is “100%” that this is a daunting but potentially also a winning position – and that nobody was so much as contemplating a draw.
“I just think we’ll find another way to do it,” Patel said. “We’ll just find another way to get over the line. And I think that’s the beauty of the team that we have, and the players we have and the belief they have in how they want to play the game.
“There’s still three days of cricket left. There’s a lot of cricket to go. And I think on a fast-scoring ground you never know what can happen sort of stuff. We’ve got two of the greatest batters in the world at the crease at the moment and hopefully they’ll go back in tomorrow and they really nestle in and really cash in on what could be a good day for England.”
Shubman Gill, the India captain, followed a score of 147 in the first innings at Headingley a fortnight ago with a largely faultless 269 here as England’s bowlers were gradually drained of optimism and energy. “It was a pretty tough day. I think 150 overs in the dirt in any scenario is pretty tough,” Patel said.
“The way Shubman batted over the two days has been fantastic. He’s put on a proper masterclass in how to bat on a good wicket. The guys threw everything at him, so they’re very tired after their efforts. Everyone’s all right, everyone’s fine, there’s just tired minds and tired bodies.”
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Having followed success with the bat by making inroads with the ball – despite the controversial decision not to play Jasprit Bumrah – India will also be buoyed up by their faultless catching in the cordon, having dropped eight eminently pouchable chances at Headingley. “Getting the catches was really good confidence for us,” Gill said. “Fielding is something we spoke about going into this match – if we were half as good [in the first Test] the result would have been different.”
