During the Gabba test, at first I didn't believe we could chase it down.
But after hearing my friend excitedly tell me about wanting to go for the chase, something changed in me.
I started seeing the picture for what it was.
It was a glory hunt opportunity with almost no downsides...
And the way our team was playing, there was always a chance for us.
What happened next was stuff of dreams.
Now coming to Chennai, I don't think it's an easy thing to do at all.
Maybe much harder than even Gabba (even tho nowhere near as prestigious).
But after watching Ishant and Ashwin talk.... I think my perspective may be shifting a little.
What they are saying is that the chennai pitch doesn't break apart, but so there is always an opportunity.
And going by history, but that's true. This isn't a pitch that goes complete rogue.
Watching everyone go on and on about Jack leach's delivery to Rohit, I thought maybe the pitch is a complete demon and it won't be easy at all.
Then I went and watched the replay.
As good as that delivery was, it was followed by some truly horrendous batting.
Rohit wasn't up to the pitch of the ball.
Playing down the wrong line not accounting for spin.
Its natural to get out if you make this many mistakes to a turning ball.
I thought it would have been a Steve o Keefe style delivery in pune 2017 which would cut at 90 degrees sharp out of nowhere but this wasn't like that at all.
Processing everything, I don't think it's complete doom and gloom.
We may still lose (most likely) but if we start off well, batsman will gain confidence and bowlers will lose their line and length slowly.
We have seen that you can score runs at a rapid clip in Chennai so with a good start, we will have a match on our hands... Win, and draw or loss.
Even Pujara talked about pant doing great but needing to show some match awareness today so the team is pretty self aware and not in cloud cuckoo over Pant's magical knocks..
I like the mindset of this Indian team which is...
No matter what, keep going in a sensible way. Baaki Jo hoga dekha jaega.
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here's the quotes of Ishant and ashwin
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"I think it all depends how we start up tomorrow," Ishant said in a chat right after the day's play with Star Sports. "If we get a good start, then I'm sure we can chase this down, because we have a batting line-up who are very fearless. So we are obviously very positive about this, so it's just about the start, and then we look how we go through the innings."
India have had to play catch-up on all four days of this Test so far, having lost the toss and conceded 578 before they were bowled out for 337 on Monday. Heading into day five on a pitch that has shown some signs of the ball keeping low, Ashwin suggested that India aren't worried too much about it, particularly about how it might assist James Anderson and Jofra Archer.
"I think even in the first innings Jassi [Bumrah] got a couple of lbws," Ashwin said when it was pointed out that Bumrah got a few deliveries to stay low on Monday. "There are a few things we need to understand when it comes to Jassi's bowling. The arm path is different to what Anderson and Archer have. And these two [Bumrah and Ishant] are exponents of subcontinent conditions, they've been playing cricket in India. So I think it's a facet of the game that goes unnoticed or unobserved from the outside, which I think might not necessarily happen. We think the wicket will play nicely."
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This might work or might bomb.
But this is how champions think and I am glad we are on the right track.
Now it's time to go out and execute it properly.