To say that Day Four of the Edgbaston Test belonged to India would be an understatement. The visitors dominated and outsmarted Bazballing England-probably at their own game-as they piled on the runs on a flat deck in Birmingham, where the weather has been kind so far.
We saw everything happen on Saturday, right from Rishabh Pant letting the ball-and his bat-fly in the air (twice), to Shubman Gill showing his class as a batter and proving the critics wrong. To India’s credit, they ensured that they kept up with the scoring rate. Gill, who had been playing a subdued innings until lunch, switched gears and ended up with 161 runs off 162 balls.
The fans were eager to see what kind of target India would post. More than that, they wanted a peek into what the bowlers could produce on this flat deck. But the wait for the declaration went on and on. At first, the target of 500 seemed fine, but then it kept rising. Surely the call would come now, right? Nope. The cameras focused on Siraj and the bowlers, who were still in their sweatshirts, relaxing.
Gill continued the onslaught, and everyone thought his wicket would signal the declaration. No. The wait continued, and we even saw Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar come in before Gill decided it was time for the bowlers.
This decision did cause a lot of frustration and bewilderment amongst fans and pundits alike. The biggest concern on everyone’s mind was the weather forecast for Day Five. While we have been treated to overcast and dark skies over the course of four days, there hasn’t been any rain interruption.
But all that could change on Sunday, with rain predicted and expected to disrupt proceedings.
History not in Favour of India
Well, if you ask Morne Morkel, who came for the press conference after Day Four, India made the right decision to wait with the declaration. He felt the wicket was still good for batting and that they wanted to have a crack at England for close to 20 overs.
“We did speak about it a lot of the day. But I think we see that it’s still a good wicket. Even our boys were batting quite comfortably towards the back end at 4 or 5 runs an over. With you having the extra day, I mean, weather, you can’t really control that. It was getting us into a comfortable position with the bat, and then, obviously, tonight, have 20-plus overs at them and hopefully gloomy grey skies, and get the two or three wickets, and we got that, which is a bonus for us,” said Morkel.
“So yeah, tomorrow morning that first hour is gonna be crucial. We saw this morning that, you know, if you get the ball in the right area, there was a little bit of assistance and yeah, we just need to be on the money with that tomorrow.”
But the issue here is that history doesn’t favour India when it comes to 600-plus targets. This is only the second time India have set a target of more than 600 in Tests-the first being in 2009. Back then in Wellington, India were left stranded just two wickets away from victory as New Zealand held on.
While England have always said they will play to win-that’s the Bazball way-even the most ardent fans will agree that this is a target that may be too far out of reach. The highest successful chase in Tests remains 418, and there’s a reason why that record has stood unbroken for 22 years.
Was It an Ego Trip or Fear of Bazball?
Now, we all know what happened in the last two Tests between England and India in England. The visitors thought they had set up challenging totals-only for Bazball to blow them away. One has to wonder if that fear has stifled India a bit this time.
Morkel said in the press conference that they were not worried and that any team chasing down 500-plus on the final day deserves to win the match. But in this case, it did come across as India being a bit eager to ensure the game was fully out of England’s reach.
Or was it just an ego trip for the Gautam Gambhir-coached Indian team-to throw the gauntlet down to England and dare them to chase with their Bazball mantra? Marcus Trescothick, speaking after Day Four, told the media that England aren’t stupid enough to chase anything and everything and put themselves in jeopardy.
If that is the case, then India may be in for some trouble on Day Five. Yes, they may have ruffled England’s feathers with three wickets. But with the weather forecast being a bit iffy and some of England’s in-form players still in the contest, India will hope their call on Day Four doesn’t prove costly-and doesn’t squander a golden chance to secure their first-ever Test win at Edgbaston.