"If India don't defend this, I will definitely point my guns at the Indian batters" - Aakash Chopra ahead of Day 5 of 5th IND vs ENG Test
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra believes that if India fail to defend 378, it is the batters who need to take the blame for not scoring enough runs.
India had a huge first-innings lead of 132 runs going into their second innings of the ongoing one-off Test at Edgbaston. However, they could only manage 245 and although a lead of 377 seemed sizeable, England are just 119 runs away from a famous victory.
Aakash Chopra stressed how apart from a couple of batters, all the others underperformed for the visitors. Speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, here's how Chopra summarized India's batting performance in the Edgbaston Test:
"If you look at who scored runs for India in this game, it was [Rishabh] Pant and [Ravindra] Jadeja in the first innings, and [Cheteshwar] Pujara, Pant, and Jadeja in the second. When most of your batters don't score runs, you lose the opportunity to reach a dominating position in the game."
Chopra added:
"If India don't defend this, I will definitely point my guns at the Indian batters. When you have 6-7 batters, you expect that just two of them won't be doing all the scoring."
India's batting coach Vikram Rathour said, "India failed to negotiate the short ball plan from England, it was an ordinary day for batters".
Aakash Chopra on Rishabh Pant's shot selection
Rishabh Pant had a sensational outing with the bat at Edgbaston. With scores of 146 and 57 respectively in either innings, he became the first Indian wicketkeeper to score more than 200 runs in a single Test away from home.
However, the 24-year-old received a bit of stick for the way he was dismissed in the second innings. Pant tried to reverse-sweep Jack Leach, but could only find Joe Root at first slip.
While many believe he should have carried on playing orthodox shots, Aakash Chopra feels the southpaw did the right thing by backing his natural instincts. He stated:
"Rishabh Pant did his job by smashing a half-century in the second innings. Many are saying that the shot (reverse sweep) that got him out wasn't necessary. But I don't think the situation was a problem."
Aakash Chopra added:
"He was on 50 (57) and he wanted to dominate and take the game forward. I won't point any guns at him. The shot was fine according to me."
India need a couple of quick wickets on Day 5 or the game could drift away from them even before they realize. England will begin the final day of the Test on 259/3 with Joe Root (76 batting) and Jonny Bairstow (72 batting) at the crease.