India will be under pressure to win: Broad

At the end of the day’s play on Sunday, England would need to bat out 90 overs with eight wickets in hand to save the Test match and Broad believes his team is not out yet. “We have shown a lot of character. Huge credit to everyone in the team for making us be alive in the Test match on day five from what we were at the end of day two. It was easy to throw the towel when we had a deficit of 300 but we came strong and put the pressure on the Indians. We didn’t let them score freely, didn’t let them declare and topped it up with an excellent batting display. We have saved a lot of Test matches from this position,” he said. 

Broad said the key for England on day five would be to approach the day in small partnerships. “Everyone believes it can be done. We have only 90 overs to go. The key would be to break it down to small partnerships of, say 15 minutes or five overs or five runs etc. We know India will come refreshed, with men around the bat. There will be a lot of appeals and aggression. We should quiet it down. The first hour is the key. They are expected to win the game and they will be under pressure to win the game from where they are,” the seamer said.

The 30-year-old said he relished bowling on Sunday morning. “It felt like a decent time (to bowl). There was some reverse swing. I got into a wicket taking rhythm and I wasn’t bothered about runs. I felt I got into a good grove. It is always nice to get wickets in India. My leg cutters were gripping well and I got the edges of the bat in to play. It was a nice experience to bowl like this on a fourth day pitch,” Broad added. 

The fast bowler said it was disappointing to lose Alastair Cook in the final over of the day. “Both the batsman (Hameed and Cook) showed a lot of courage. It is always disappointing to lose a wicket in the final over. We have battled for 60 overs and that gives us encouragement. We have a lot of batting left. If we can get two or three batsmen to stick like how the openers did, we will save the Test match,” Broad added.