Jubilant with his teams’ > thumping win at Old Trafford on Saturday, England skipper Alastair Cook expressed surprise at India’s abject surrender in the fourth Test, which allowed the hosts to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
Getting behind a 215-run lead, the visitors were shot out for just 161 runs in the post-tea session on day 3 as they went on to lose by an innings and 54 runs.
“You don’t often get nine wickets in one session,” said Cook smiling.
“At tea, we planned to get them six down at stumps. It was a question of sticking it out as a team because we were one bowler short when we came out. And then we got on a roll straight after and picked up those wickets.”
“We were looking at bowling with three bowlers only. It was a great effort from Jimmy (Anderson). It was a matter of building the pressure and we thought it would be a good job if we didn’t have to see Stuart Broad again tonight,” he added.
It has been a major turnaround for England, who hadn’t won a single Test in 10 matches until the 266-run win at Southampton in the third Test. They have not only put those losses, especially the 95-run defeat in the second Test at Lord’s, behind them but are now looking a completely different side.
“When you go 1-0 down in a five match series, you still have a chance of winning the series and turning it around,” said the English skipper.
“Throughout the summer we have played well in patches and then we had a bad moment or a poor session and we lost momentum. We were at rock bottom at Lord’s but there was a glimmer because of runs from the younger guys. It was just a matter of the senior guys stepping up to the plate. A younger side has made it easier for us and it was a matter of believing and to keep doing the same stuff. It will eventually turn around. The challenge was to match the intensity and set the tone like we did on that first morning,” he added.
If the fast bowlers had done the job for England in better first-innings conditions – man of the match Broad bagged 6 wickets, India surprisingly again fell to Moeen Ali who snapped up four wickets with the batsmen looking to attack him.
“It must have been part of their game to attack Moeen,” said Cook, praising his lone spinner.
“Moeen has improved rapidly so much that I haven’t seen an improvement like that in such a short time. He is an uncanny operator. When there has been spin in the wicket he has bowled well. I had thought he was going to do a part-time role but he’s improved at a huge rate and he had worked hard in the nets with Ian Bell.”
This winning streak has now obviously lifted pressure from Cook’s shoulders who has hit form and more importantly helped his team win Test matches again.
“That was a tough moment not only for me but as a team. We spoke about it. When it goes on for a long time, you run out of chances in my position. But I had a lot of confidence and support. It was about hanging in there,” said Cook, who had been under-fire for his leadership skills and his own loss of form.
The final question obviously pertained to Broad’s injury and his availability for the Oval Test starting August 15.
“I have no idea on that. I think he has a broken nose but we have to wait on more scan results. It’s a shock when you see that happen with the helmets these days. It was a nasty blow and we wish him well,” Cook signed off.
