Former England captain Michael Waun believes that if he could save the draw in the fourth Test at Manchester’s Old Trafford, Team India would have done extraordinary performance. Van admitted that he hardly gave India a chance after 3 days, but praised the way he fought on Saturday.
The tourists had a full back on the wall before 4 days as England had 186, and their score was 544/7. With Ben Stokes collecting a ton, he brought the home team’s lead to 311, before Chris Vox attacked the Asian giants in a continuous delivery to leave 0-2. However, Shubman Gul and KL Rahul have sewed a 174 -run disconnected stand to maintain the opposition.
Addressing the BBC Test match special, Van said that India has made the team’s choice wrong here. He still sees the hosts chasing something at the end of 5 days, as he said:
“I did not give India any chance after their physical language yesterday, and when they initially lost two wickets today, I thought they had been knocked down. But I like the role and they have been brilliantly bounced with the mentality to prove us wrong. India will be misunderstood here with a misconception.
Gul was particularly released by Liam Dawson, especially 22, but he has managed to score an unbeaten 78. He has also extended his series to 99.57 for 697 runs in eight innings.
“I thought he really turned the good batter to the end”. Marcus Truscutic on Team India
England’s batting coach Marcus Trescutic advised that he would have to find something special for 5 days to break visitors’ resistance.
“The pitch is good, clearly. The bounce is slightly changing and you will have to use the crease and find the cracks and get the most out of it. There are two factors in the game and we have to work on one way with tomorrow’s solution. I thought they were very difficult to finish.”
Tourists still trails by 137 runs, and Ben Stokes and the company are 17 overs from receiving the second new ball.
Modified by Aditya Singh
