Sunil Gavaskar: England Hold Edge In Chennai Test

Legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar felt that England had their noses ahead at the end of the 2nd day’s play in the fifth and the final Test in Chennai as the visitors still lead the hosts by 417 runs. Beginning the day at 284/4, England lost 3 quick wickets to slip to 321/7 but from there on debutant Liam Dawson and Adil Rashid took matters into their own hands and bailed them out of the precarious situation. Both scored fluent half-centuries and stitched together a 108 run partnership for the 8th wicket. The useful lower order contributions meant England posted 477 in their 1st innings.

“Looking at their total of 477, I feel England have a slight edge in the match as India are still far behind,” Gavaskar told NDTV.

For the first time in the series, the Indian bowlers looked a bit wary and wayward. Gavaskar stated that the Indian bowlers should have employed different tactics to tackle the England batsmen.  “Why didn’t the Indians attack Moeen Ali with short balls on Day 1,” Gavaskar asked. Also, the bowlers could have bowled fuller lengths more on Day 2 considering the nature of the wicket,” he further added.

Replying to the daunting total, India began pretty well and ended the day’s play at 60 without the loss of any wicket. KL Rahul looked pretty impressive in his short stay so did makeshift opener Parthiv Patel. Murali Vijay who injured his shoulder during fielding couldn’t come out to bat in his original position. Rahul survived a back strain and remained unbeaten on 29 while Parthiv was at the other end on 30.

“If India can bat like England, then this match can end in a draw. The pitch is good though and India can score runs to give England a tough fight,” the former cricketer said.