According to new captain Ben Stokes, England will approach their batting with the same intensity in the rescheduled Test against India on Friday (July 01) at Edgbaston as they did in their 3-0 series victory over New Zealand, the reigning World Test champions.
England attained huge targets in each of their test victories by initiating a counterattack on Kiwi bowlers, when they found themselves in a tough spot. They are not intending to let up as they now face India at Edgbaston in a rescheduled Test from last year's series.
“Trust me when I say that we'll be coming out with exactly the same mindset even if it's a different opposition,” Stokes said after the Headingley Test victory on Monday (June 27).
“For me, when I took over the job, it was more than the results. It was about changing the mindset of the lads towards test cricket, about having fun and enjoying the fact that you're out there representing your country.
“And then the result will look after itself. That we've done it so quickly is just unbelievable,” added Stokes.
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The most "pleasant" moment of the series, according to the new captain, was when his team was reduced to 55/6 in the first innings of the third Test and then reached 360/10 thanks to Jonny Bairstow's spectacular 162 off 157 balls and Jamie Overton's immaculate 97.
“Being 55-6 (in the first innings), and then doing what we managed to do, and in the manner that we did, was probably the most pleasing thing of the series, because it could have been very easy for us to go back into our shell.”
McCullum, who stated on Monday that he wanted to make playing Test cricket for the English team simpler, was also lauded by the captain.
“I’ve tried to strip things away, keep things quiet, ignore some of the outside noise,” McCullum said of his approach to a new dressing room.
“I want to try and get these guys a little closer together and to better understand their games.
“In the professional game sometimes we can get quite caught up in our own stuff rather than where you sit in the group and being able to bounce things off some of your teammates. My role is try and force a bit more of that and try and give the guys as much confidence as I can,” the former New Zealand cricketer added.
Jack Leach was awarded the player of the match award for his match-defining 5-wickets haul in both the innings (5/100 and 5/66), with Root taking away the player of the series award for hitting 396 runs in 3 Tests at an extraordinary 99 apiece.
(Reuters Inputs)
