England captain Ben Stokes has hailed his "special group of players" for having "no interest in playing for the draws" after their remarkable 74 run win over Pakistan in Rawalpindi.
Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum have got England playing a new positive and aggressive style of Test cricket and it has been hugely successful, with England winning seven out of eight games since their appointment.
Stokes and McCullum have both said they are prepared to lose in order to have a chance at winning and this victory was a perfect example of their mantra. Speaking after the win, Stokes said: "I don't think I have seen a group of players who want to put their body on the line as much for the other ten guys on the field - a really special group of players.
"We wanted to come here to Pakistan and carry on with our mantra of exciting cricket and giving ourselves the best opportunity to win a Test match. I have got no interest in playing for draws, the dressing room's got no interest in playing for draws and we always try and look at the positive option.
"On wickets like this you've got to make things happen with the way that you play, score your runs quickly and then make some pretty rash and bold decisions with your field placings and bowling changes. I think this is up there with one of England's greatest away Test match wins."
He also hailed his side for putting in such an impressive performance after a virus swept through the England camp and threatened to delay the Test by a day, with Will Jacks and Ollie Pope singled out for stepping up after wicketkeeper Ben Foakes was too unwell to play.
"There are a few things you can plan for, which is obviously the way we want to approach Test cricket," Stokes added. "But some of the things you can't plan for is what happened to the squad a few days before.
"That seems a long time ago now when we were wondering if we were going to start the Test match on time so I have to give the group of players a lot of credit for turning up a little bit under the weather.
"There were some key individual performers – Will Jacks getting the nod to make his debut about three minutes before team time and Popey having to don the gloves with the crucial role of batting at three. You can go through this whole Test match and point out key individuals, but what we had to deal with coming into this Test match makes this win even better."
