Morne Morkel has defended India’s decision to declare late on Day 4 of the Edgbaston Test against England, saying the team wasn’t concerned about England or their Bazball approach. India piled up 427 runs in their second innings, with Shubman Gill scoring a brilliant 161, while Ravindra Jadeja and Rishabh Pant added fine half-centuries. With a first-innings lead of 180, India set a mammoth target of 608 runs for the hosts. In reply, England were reduced to 72/3 by stumps on Day 4. On the final day, they need 536 runs with seven wickets in hand.
When India declared their innings, many fans and cricket experts felt that Shubman Gill may have delayed the decision slightly. In the history of Test cricket, no team has ever chased more than 418 runs successfully. India seemed to bat longer to ensure that the possibility of losing the match was eliminated, which meant England only got 16 overs to bat on Day 4. Had India declared earlier, they could have bowled more overs at England.
Speaking at the press conference after Day 4, Morkel said that the team did discuss the timing of the declaration but felt the pitch was still good for batting. India’s bowling coach stated that the team wanted to reach a strong position, especially since the weather was beyond their control.
Morkel said, “That’s a good question. We talked a lot about it throughout the day. But I think we saw it was still a good wicket to bat on. Our players were batting quite comfortably at four or five runs an over towards the end. With the extra day, I mean, the weather— you really can’t control that. It was about getting to a comfortable position with the bat, and then obviously tonight they had more than 20 overs to bat. We were hoping for grey skies and a couple of wickets, and we got that— which is a bonus for us.”
He further added, “So yes, tomorrow’s first hour is going to be very important. We saw this morning that if you hit the right areas, there is some help, and yes, we need to focus hard on that tomorrow.”