Had full belief in ourselves that we'll chase it down: Ben Stokes

Under captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum, England have made a habit of chasing big totals in the fourth innings, but things didn’t quite go as planned on day four of the second Test against India in Visakhapatnam on Monday (February 5).

Chasing a target of 399, England were bowled out for 292. They were 132/2 at one stage but lost Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Zak Crawley and Jonny Bairstow in the space of 15 overs to give away the game to India.

"Coming into this last innings we had full belief in ourselves that we could go and chase that down. The way in which we go about taking on challenges like that is what we're about and the number of runs that we needed to get was just sort of another thing for us to try and try and chase down," said Stokes at the post-match presentation.

"In moments like that, in games when you've got scoreboard pressure, a lot of runs to chase down, that's where your process and the way in which we know that we get the best out of ourselves as individuals, that really comes out. And I thought the way in which we applied ourselves and really tried to put India's bowling attack under a lot of pressure was great. 

"Unfortunately, we didn't end up on the right side of the result. Congrats to India, I thought they played a fantastic game and, again, another great game to be a part of."

Talking about England’s aggressive approach, Stokes said: "There's no suggestion whatsoever about how to go out and play, it's go out and play how you best feel at a given time. 

"We knew the task ahead… and everyone in that dressing room there is a quality player and they are good enough to be able to go out there, assess the conditions or the situation and also assess how they're feeling and how they best feel to go about getting those runs."

Stokes also praised his bowling unit. The young spin trio of Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed took 15 wickets between them, while James Anderson finished with five wickets. They managed to bowl India out for 255 in the second innings and kept England alive in the contest.

"It wasn't a challenge. I absolutely loved it. To look at Tom, Bash and Rehan with three matches between them and watch them put in the performance yesterday was great. They showed a lot of maturity, a lot of skill.

"Jimmy is amazing. You look at Jimmy, and Jasprit Bumrah, two great fast bowlers. Even when you are in the opposition, you put your hand up (for Jasprit). Jimmy is that player for us."