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Many former cricketers were left surprised with the timing of India's declaration during the second Test against England at Edgbaston. Though the Men in Blue had already managed to take a massive lead in the match by the second session on the fourth day, they still decided to play an hour into the third session. This decision came under criticism as there were reports of heavy rain on Day 5 and many felt that the team wasted too much time in taking the call.
Former England cricketer Mark Butcher was left 'baffled' with India's decision of declaring late into the third session. However, he added that the Men in Blue took this much time to come to a decision because of the fear that Ben Stokes & Co. can manage to chase down even a mammoth target if they are allowed to bat for little more than a day
"It is a legacy, a tribute, to the fear Stokes and England put into teams when setting fourth-innings targets. India want to make sure England are completely and utterly out of it and then you ask a team reticent to draw games whether they can do it. India could have given themselves more time to win the game by scoring faster," Butcher said on Sky Sports.
"Whether that turns out to be the right thing to do, we will find out tomorrow, but for now it is a little bit baffling," he added.
Ward feels that the Indian team played on England's ego
Another former England cricketer, Ian Ward felt that India were trying to play on England's ego as skipper Ben Stokes had earlier expressed confidence in his side and had stated that they have the ability to chase down big targets when they step out to bat in the fourth innings. "We're confident in our abilities to be able to go out and chase when we have to bat in the fourth innings," Stokes had said ahead of the second match.
"We always hear England and Ben Stokes say 'we'll try to chase anything to win'. India are just playing on that here, that's the only reason I can think of as to why they've declared so late. They're playing on England's ego, confidence, mantra, whatever you want to call it," Ward stated.
Meanwhile, England finished the fourth day on 72/3. They ended up losing three big wickets during the final 16 overs of the day which included the likes of Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett and the biggest of them all, Joe Root. Akash Deep picked up two while Mohammed Siraj also chipped in with a scalp as the Three Lions got restricted to 50/3 at one stage. However, a steady 22-run stand between Ollie Pope and Harry Brook ensured that the hosts did not lose any more wickets during the day's play and ended up 536 runs behind.
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