England fought back brilliantly on Day 3 of the opening Test against India at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
After conceding a substantial first innings lead of 190 runs, England were struggling at 165/5 in their second essay. Just when the visitors were staring at innings defeat, Ollie Pope produced a counter-attacking century to put the Indian bowlers on the backfoot.
Pope stayed unbeaten on 148 off 208 balls to take England to 316/6 at stumps on Day 3, ensuring a lead of 126 runs in the second innings.
After the close of play, India's bowling coach Paras Mhambrey stated that the home team is not overly concerned about the target size despite England establishing a significant lead.
"We are not looking at any particular target (to chase) as I said the objective is to come tomorrow morning and get early wickets and limit their total.
"We are not putting any pressure on ourselves by setting any target. We just want to bowl in the right areas to extract turn and bounce from the wicket," Mhambrey said during the post-day press conference.
Mhambrey expressed confidence bearing in mind the manageable nature of turn on the pitch, emphasizing that it can be effectively countered.
"If you look at the way the game has progressed over the last few days from the first session, the amount of turn the ball has taken, I think it got better in the second innings. I think it is going to get a bit better on the slower side (tomorrow).
"There will be some turn but it is not the usual turn you see in the Indian sub-continental wickets, the sharp turn when the game progresses. There is a little turn but not as challenging," he remarked.
Mhambrey said the Indian bowlers were well aware of the 'Bazball' tactics and they had prepared to combat it before the start of this series.
"We knew prior to the series the way England played over the last couple of years and the kind of approach they had to Test cricket. We were expecting them to come here with that aggression and play those kinds of shots.
"But credit goes to them for playing those shots and some of the shots Pope played were very brave, and playing those shots consistently can put the opposition under pressure," he elaborated.
Paras Mhambrey also acknowledged that the England batters, especially Pope, was brave to play those adventurous shots against the Indian bowlers.
"It does happen as the batsmen start to access different areas. It is going to be a challenge. Pope accessed the square leg area and the reverse sweep as well. They took on the attack when it was really needed.
"Sometimes it happens because someone like him who plays these kinds of shots consistently does get the bowlers under pressure in terms of variations of the line. But we need to be patient with lines and hope to get a wicket," said Mhambrey.
(With PTI Inputs)
