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Stop waiting. Take the chances and declare when...: Ravi Shastri pushes Gambhir to gamble big after South Africa's 489
Ravi Shastri urges Gautam Gambhir to take a bold gamble, declaring early and pushing for a result even as India trail South Africa after their 489-run total.
South Africa remain firmly in the driver’s seat at the end of Day 2, standing 480 runs ahead of India. Powered by two lower-order masterclasses, Senuran Muthusamy’s maiden Test hundred and Marco Jansen’s 91-ball 93, the visitors posted an imposing 489 in Guwahati, grinding down the Indian attack with grit and patience. Yet former India head coach Ravi Shastri believes the hosts, trailing 0-1 in the series, can still spark a comeback as he urges Gautam Gambhir to take a bold gamble.
Shastri wants India to avoid batting time and instead adopt a more aggressive approach — score quickly, put runs on the board, and force South Africa to bat again, even if that means declaring up to 100 runs behind.
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“Tactically India will have to take a call tomorrow. See how they get through the new ball, and then take the game forward, and force a win in this Test match. They'll have to call the shots, which means you might even want to declare behind. Then try and bowl out the opposition quickly in the second innings.
“You've got to take those chances. You can't wait to bat and go past 489, that'll take a long time. Might have to even declare 80, 90, 100 runs behind and see how it goes,” Shastri said while commentating for Star Sports.
The left-handed Muthusamy made 109 and forged a 97-run partnership for the eighth wicket with Jansen. The latter clobbered six fours and seven sixes in his 91-ball blitz before he dragged a delivery from Kuldeep Yadav on to his stumps, as South Africa's innings ended after 151.1 overs. In reply, the home team ended nine for no loss in 6.1 overs at stumps.
In the history of Test cricket, 33 times a team has declared in the second innings of a match despite trailing. However, the team only went on to win on three occasions.
India did it four times, but never won. However, their only defeat came in 1948, against Australia in Melbourne after they had declared their second innings despite trailing by 103 runs. In the other three instances - against Pakistan (trail by 41 runs in 1978 in Faisalabad), against England (trail by 1 run in Kanpur in 1982) and against England again (trail by 4 runs in Nagpur in 2012) - ended in a draw.
Despite the call for aggression, India will keep in mind that their qualification for the World Test Champions final will be at stake, and a second consecutive loss could see them drop to the fifth spot in the table. The defeat will be all the more significant because India will not play another home Test match in more than a year. Moreover, even a draw in the match would ensure a second Test series defeat for India at home under Gambhir's tenure as head coach.
