England captain Ben Stokes revealed they are trying to rewrite how Test cricket is played in their country. The Three Lions have won their last four Test matches against formidable units like New Zealand and India and they have done so by chasing down tricky runs.
England has adopted an aggressive style of batting and they have shown that they are going to be fearless, irrespective of the opposition. Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow played incredible knocks to add 269 runs for the fourth wicket and got their team over the line in the run-chase of 378 runs, which is their highest ever in Test match history.
All the England players are given the license to play an aggressive brand of cricket by their head coach Brendon McCullum and they are relishing the opportunity to prove their mettle.
England batters are bringing all the aggression and they have done an amazing job in delivering the goods even when they are put under pressure. The hosts were brilliant in the fourth innings against India and won the match by seven wickets.
Stokes admitted that they might lose some matches with this aggressive approach but they are going to keep going hard at the opposition. The English side has ticked the right boxes in the last four Test matches and they must have grown in confidence after their success.
Meanwhile, a lot of credit goes to Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, who both have been consistent for the team in these last few games.
Ben Stokes said in the post-match presentation, “When the lads play like this, it makes my job easier. When you have clarity like we have in the dressing room, it makes chasing totals like this easier. 378 would have been scary five weeks ago, but now it’s all good. Jonny and Root will get all the credit, but the precedent was set up by the way the openers played against Bumrah and Shami with the new ball. It is all about taking wickets and taking ten wickets. There are no complaints.”
He added, “Sometimes, teams will be better than us, but no one will be braver than us, quote by Jack Leach. We are trying to rewrite how Test cricket is played in England. All our plans from the last four-five weeks is what we want to take ahead. Bowling on the top of off isn’t important, it is all about taking ten wickets. We know that we want to give some new life to Test cricket. The support we received has been fantastic in the short time that we’ve been around. Inspiring the next generation is what we want to do. We want to bring in new fans and want to leave a mark on Test cricket.”
England will now face India in three-match T20I series starting on Thursday.
