England captain Ben Stokes revealed that there is no message from the management on how to play as after India's series-levelling win on day 4 in Vishakhapatnam. The 32-year-old also disclosed that they had backed themselves completely to chase down 399.
Coming into day 4, England needed another 332 runs to win with 9 wickets in hand. However, the tourists lacked contributions from their experienced batters, with Zak Crawley emerging as the top-scorer again. The tourists dragged themselves to 292 before getting bowled out to lose by 106 runs.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Stokes revealed that it's only during moments of pressure that brings the best out of them.
"Coming into this last innings, had full belief in ourselves that we'll chase it down. In moments like that, in games with scoreboard pressure, that's where we get the best out of ourselves. Another great game to be a part of. There's no suggestion whatsoever about how to play. Everyone in the dressing room is a quality player. They are good enough to go out there and assess the conditions, and decide how to go about it."
"Absolutely loved it" - Ben Stokes on captaining England's inexperienced spinners
Stokes added that the trio of Rehan Ahmed, Shoaib Bashir, and Tom Hartley did incredibly well despite their lack of experience.
"I absolutely loved it (captaining the spinners). To put in the performance they did yesterday was incredible. They showed a lot of maturity beyond the years. He's amazing (Anderson). Two guys who're incredible bowlers (Anderson and Bumrah)."
The 3rd Test begins on February 15th in Rajkot.
