Ravi Shastri has advised India head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Rishabh Pant to think out of the box if they wish to win the Guwahati Test. After two days, just the first innings has ended, and India will have to push the envelope to level the series at 1-1.
Ravi Shastri suggests India take a declaration risk
At this point, a draw doesn’t mean much more than a defeat to India. That’s why the former India captain has suggested taking the aggressive route. Shastri reckons that to win, the home team will have to risk defeat. What he means is that India needs to bat quickly and declare around 400 to give themselves a chance to win chasing a total in the fourth innings.
“Tactically, India will have to take a call tomorrow. See how they get through the new ball, and then take the game forward, and force a win in this Test match. They’ll have to call the shots, which means you might even want to declare behind. Then try and bowl out the opposition quickly in the second innings. You’ve got to take those chances. You can’t wait to bat and go past 489; that’ll take a long time. Might have to even declare 80, 90, or 100 runs behind and see how it goes,” Shastri said while commenting.
But this approach may not work. If the pitch doesn’t break tomorrow, the ball won’t spin much on the fourth day. This would give South Africa the advantage. One has to consider that India has lost a fair number of matches while chasing recently. In the last Test itself, India couldn’t chase down 124. Then there’s the Lord’s Test as well.
Also, losing 0-2 is worse than losing 0-1. And there will be big implications. Gambhir might be questioned. He’s already lost one home series, which was a historic whitewash. To lose back-to-back series at home might be something he can’t come back from. That’s why he might think to take the safer option.
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