ENG vs IND 2025: 'Still a good wicket' - Morne Morkel explains India's declaration, previews Day 5 in Edgbaston Test

India are in a magnificent position to win their first-ever Test match at Edgbaston, Birmingham after dominating the first four days of the second Test in England in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. Ben Stokes' men were set an improbable target of 608 runs to chase down in the fourth innings after India declared at 427/6 in the final session on Day 4. The Three Lions lost three wickets and scored 72 runs in the 16 overs they batted before Stumps.

While India find themselves in a fantastic situation, some fans and experts opined that Shubman Gill took a bit too long to declare in their second innings. However, bowling coach Morne Morkel explained that India wanted to bat themselves into a comfortable position by having enough runs on the board as the surface had no demons in it and the weather not being in their hands. He revealed that India wanted to pick up two-three wickets before the end of the day's play and they were successful in doing that.

"That's a good question. 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 while speaking in the press conference at the end of play on Day 4.

"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," he added.

Not worried about Bazball: Morkel

Morkel was asked whether India were afraid of England's Bazball tactics and their intention to chase down any target put in front of them. The former South African speedster refuted this, saying that if a team scores more than 500 runs on Day 5, they deserve to emerge victorious.

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"Worried. No, not really. I think if a team scores 500+ on the final day, then they deserve to win. So, I think it was just a little bit more time. Ideally give an hour, a little bit more than an hour at them tonight, with Day 5 around the corner," said Morkel.