India v England: James Anderson says hosts will be nervous of tourists' run-chase
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James Anderson has moved to 695 Test wickets in Visakhapatnam
James Anderson says India are nervous about England pulling off another chase in the second Test in Visakhapatnam.
England closed day three on 67-1 in pursuit of 399, which would be a record for England, against India and by any team in this country.
England overhauled 378 against India in 2022, one of five successful chases in excess of 250 in the past two years.
"The nerves were there to see," said Anderson. "They didn't know how many was enough."
England were excellent with the ball and in the field on Sunday, taking the last six India wickets for 44 runs to bowl the hosts out for 255 in their second innings.
India stuttered either side of tea after Shubman Gill was dismissed for 104.
"They were quite cautious, even when they had a big lead," added pace bowler Anderson, England's all-time leading wicket-taker.
"The chat last night from the coach was that if they get 600, we were going to go for it. It makes it very clear to everyone that we will try to do it tomorrow."
England have made a habit of fast scoring and daring run-chases since captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum took charge.
And Anderson believes England's style is affecting the way teams play against them.
"There have been moments to make us think we're doing something well because of the way teams have reacted," said Anderson. "Going back to last summer, Australia had a point fielder on the boundary for the first ball of the Ashes.
"I don't know if intimidating is the right word, but it's putting different thoughts in opposition's minds. It definitely felt like that today."
England have only twice made more than 100 in the fourth innings to win a Test in India. No visiting side has reached 300 in the fourth innings in this country, regardless of the result.
Despite history being on India's side, Gill said it is only "70-30" in favour of his side levelling the series at 1-1.
"We were in a good position and we could have scored a few more runs, but overall it was a good effort," Gill told TNT Sports.
England are waiting on the fitness of Joe Root, who was hit on the finger in the warm-up on Sunday morning and again whilst fielding in the first hour. Root left the action at drinks in the first session and did not return for the rest of the day.
"His finger is not great," Anderson told BBC Sport. "It's just making sure that it is as good as it can be for when he bats. Hopefully tomorrow he'll turn up and be OK to hold a bat."
England will resume on Monday needing another 332 runs, with Zak Crawley unbeaten on 29 and Rehan Ahmed on nine.
Ahmed, who took 3-88 with his leg-spin on Sunday, was promoted from number eight to number three to fulfil the 'Nighthawk' role previously occupied by the retired Stuart Broad. Ahmed, 19, hit two boundaries from the final over of the day.
"I think he would have been asked to do it by the captain and coach if he hadn't already basically said to the captain, as we were walking off the field, that he wanted to put his pads on and bat three," said Anderson.
"He got announced as nightwatchman over the tannoy, but he certainly wasn't that. We saw that in the last over when he wanted to score boundaries."
Anderson, 41, is playing in his first Test since experiencing a disappointing Ashes series, when he managed only five wickets in four Tests.
He has bowled beautifully on his return, with three wickets in the first innings and two in the second. The Lancashire man has become the oldest pace bowler to play a Test in India and the oldest to take five wickets in a Test since 1923.
And he credits his improvement to fitness work done during his time away from he game. Anderson even hired time at the public athletics track near Manchester City's Etihad Stadium.
"I felt so strong out there, in a really good place," said Anderson. "When your body is in good condition, you can completely focus on what you want the ball to do.
"In the summer I maybe let that slip a bit and wasn't as good as I could have been from a fitness point of view, but now I feel absolutely amazing and hopefully I can keep it up."