New Delhi, June 25 (IANS) After England chased down 371 to beat India by five wickets in the first Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test, former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar lauded the Ben Stokes-led side for shattering a long-standing conventional wisdom of acing successful chases in the final innings of a Test match.

On day five’s play, Ben Duckett smashed a superb 149 as England chased down 371 in the final session to go 1-0 up in the five-match series. It is also the second highest total England have chased in Tests, as skipper Stokes’ decision to bowl first at Headingley was justified at the end.

“Hats off to this England side led by Ben Stokes. They’ve taken what used to be a taboo in Test cricket — that chasing 250 or 300-plus in the final innings is near impossible — and completely turned it on its head. Regardless of pitch conditions or pressure, they’ve looked that belief in the face and said, We’re going to think differently. They’ve begun treating those targets as achievable.

“And guess what — even on Day 5, it’s the fielding team that ends up feeling more pressure, because now, they’re the ones who have to ensure a win. That’s the mental shift. Once you start challenging long-standing beliefs and inherited wisdom, you then need the kind of batters we saw today to actually pull it off. Joe Root, of course, is always there when England are chasing down something big.

“But the platform was set beautifully by Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley. Unfortunately for India, I have to say, the pitch went completely flat during the morning session. Bumrah gave it everything, so did the other seamers, but the surface just went to sleep. Suddenly, it started playing like an Arun Jaitley Stadium day-five pitch — completely dead. And that’s what made India’s job of winning the game so much harder,” said Manjrekar on JioHotstar.

He also reflected on local lad, England’s premier batter Joe Root, hitting a match-winning 53 not out, in the hosts’ acing the chase on a thrilling day at Headingley. “This is something he’s made a habit of — even in another format. In 50-over cricket recently, he played a brilliant innings where he remained 160 not out in a big run chase, and the next-best contribution in that innings was around 50 or 60.”

“That’s Joe Root — one of the all-time greats. It’s always good to see players like Joe Root and Kane Williamson in Test cricket. We don’t get to watch them enough in this part of the world, and when we do, we’re reminded of the calibre of batters operating around the globe.

“A couple of years ago, Williamson played some all-time great Test innings, and here was Root once again giving us a glimpse of his mastery — how easily he saw England through. They had just lost Ben Stokes.

“If India had managed to get Root at that point, there would’ve been a bit of clutter and panic in the England camp. But Joe Root — he has his roots firmly embedded in the pitch. It’s very hard to dislodge him once he’s set. That’s what makes him so special,” concluded Manjrekar.

–IANS

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