Why did Team India declare the innings late in Edgbaston? Bowling coach told the reason
In the Edgbaston Test match, Team India has set a target of 608 runs for England to win.
Team India: On the fourth day of the Edgbaston Test, Saturday 5 July, India declared their second innings at 427 runs, after which bowling coach Morne Morkel defended the decision of this late declaration. He said that India had no concern with England’s ‘Bazball’ strategy. Shubman Gill played a brilliant innings of 161 runs, in which Ravindra Jadeja and Rishabh Pant also made important contributions. India set a huge target of 608 runs in front of England.
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Team India’s strategy and late declaration
Team India: India scored runs in the second innings and set a target of 608 runs, which many fans and experts considered excessive, as a target of more than 418 runs has never been chased in the history of Test cricket. Nevertheless, India gave England 16 overs to bat at the end of the fourth day and put them under pressure by losing three wickets for 72 runs. Morkel said in the press conference that the team discussed a lot about declaring the innings, but the pitch was still favorable for batting.
Team India: Morkel said, “This is a good question. We discussed it throughout the day. But we felt that the pitch was still good for batting. Our batsmen were scoring comfortably at the rate of 4-5 runs per over in the last session. The weather is not in our control, so we wanted to make a strong position with the bat. We had planned to bowl more than 20 overs tonight, and we got three wickets, which is a bonus for us.”
Fifth day and threat of rain
Morkel told that the first hour of the fifth day will be very important. He said, “In the morning we saw that if the ball is put in the right place, then there was some help from the pitch. Tomorrow we have to maintain accuracy in our bowling.” However, there is a 60% chance of rain in Birmingham, which could put a damper on India’s hopes of a win.
Was India worried about ‘Bazball’?
When asked if India was worried about England’s aggressive ‘Bazball’ strategy and their intention to chase any target, Morkel dismissed it outright. He said, “If a team scores more than 500 runs on the last day, it deserves to win.” Morkel believes that India have created a strong position as per their strategy and now it is up to the bowlers to take the remaining wickets quickly.
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