Paul Farbrace says England will "dig deep" against India at Lord's
By Callum Dent
Assistant Coach Paul Farbrace is hoping England can take inspiration from the battling qualities they showed against Sri Lanka at Headingley earlier this year when they return to Lord’s for the final day of the second Investec Test tomorrow.
The left-hander and Joe Root resume England’s innings on 105 for four tomorrow, requiring another 214 runs to beat India and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
Farbrace has called on his side to replicate that fighting spirit again, telling ecb.co.uk:“Mo is not out and got a hundred batting all day at Headingley.
“There was a lot of people that turned up at Headingley that day, and perhaps a lot of people that didn’t turn up, that gave us no chance at 7.10pm when we were still fighting for our lives to stay in that game.
“We have got to take a lot of impetus and a lot of belief from that. I’m sure Mo and Rooty will do. Rooty enjoys batting here, he gets runs here, so I think they will be both looking forward to tomorrow.
“There is no point turning up if you haven’t got that belief. There is no point playing these games if you don’t have the belief.
“The belief will always be there, you have just got to keep fighting hard. Sometimes, you have to dig a little deeper than you would like to.”
Chasing a victory target of 319, England battled their way to 70 for one courtesy of a patient 58-run second-wicket stand between Alastair Cook and Gary Ballance.
India’s seamers then turned the game on its head by claiming three wickets for two runs in 20 deliveries.
From 72 for four, Root and Moeen then fought hard to the close with an unbroken stand of 33.
Despite the dramatic collapse, Farbrace took heart from the fight shown from his batsmen on a pitch that is still offering a lot of assitance to the bowlers.
The ex-Sri Lanka coach said: “It’s been another interesting day of Test cricket. Test cricket is tough cricket.
“But I thought Rooty and Mo got stuck in and fought and battled really well there tonight.
“It’s not easy, but you would expect it. It’s been a really good cricket pitch.
“There is a little bit of natural variation now and a bit of spin as well. It’s going to be a tough battle tomorrow but that is what it is.
“Five days of Test cricket is always going to be tough. Full credit for the way we fought and battled. India have played their part. It’s been a really good four days so far.”
England made early inroads this morning, taking three wickets in quick succession after Murali Vijay and Mahendra Singh Dhoni negotiated the first 50 minutes of play.
But Ravindra Jadeja lifted India to a second-innings total of 342 by hitting a brutal 68, his maiden Test fifty, and sharing in a 99-run eighth-wicket stand with fellow half-centurion Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Farbrace added: “Fair play to India, I thought they played well today. Jadeja perhaps got them a little bit further away from us than we would have liked.
“When you always come into a morning like that you always want to take your wickets early.
“They played pretty well to be fair. At the end I thought we mopped them up nicely.”