After the end of play on Day Three of the second Test at Edgbaston, England batter Harry Brook appeared confident about England’s chances of pulling off a win. Speaking at the post-match press conference, Brook said the team would aim to take early wickets on Day Four and then chase down whatever target is set.
However, former England captain and current commentator Michael Vaughan expressed skepticism about that plan, pointing out that the pitch was still good for batting and India, unlike in the first Test, looked much more settled.
“India are brought up on these kind of wickets. I can’t see them collapsing tomorrow, they aren’t going to give them anything. They’ve dominated completely other than about three hours today,” Vaughan told the BBC.
He further explained England’s possible challenge with the ball on Day Four: “The one concern I would have is that India had much more movement with the new ball. From what I’ve seen now, England have to get a little bit of seam into their action because it’s a flat pitch,” he added.
India will still be mindful of their two batting collapses in the first Test at Leeds. In the first innings, they lost their last seven wickets for just 41 runs. In the second innings, their final six wickets fell for just 31 runs. Those collapses played a big role in India’s loss and remain a concern going forward in the series.
But Brook remained upbeat, backing England to turn things around with early breakthroughs on Day Four and chase down the target aggressively.
“I still think we can win this Test match, to be honest. I believe if we take a couple of early wickets tomorrow and put them under pressure and hopefully they can crumble up there and everybody knows in the world that we are going to try and chase whatever they set us, so we’ll see how they play,” said Brook.
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