Veteran cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra has shared that India should bat for 40 overs on Day 4 and set a target close to 350 in the first Test against Sri Lanka. However, he added that the visitors could even lose the game with that approach as well. India bundled out Sri Lanka for 284 in their first innings on Day 3 (Monday, August 17) in Galle. Team India had posted 462 runs in their first innings and have a 178-run lead heading into Day 4 as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “Add 178 more to 178 and reach 350. Even if you play at an average of five, it will take you 40 overs to score 200, and there are huge chances of rain. So you will have to move really quickly. You will have to play slightly aggressively. Yashasvi, play like Yashasvi. KL Rahul, you have many gears. Activate the T20 and ODI gear this time.”
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“There is a lot of depth in the batting. Just keep moving faster. I am giving India about 40-odd overs. Score around 150 to 175 runs and declare. Bite the bullet. I know if 50 overs happen and 90 overs of the last day also happen, we can actually end up on the losing side in 140 overs,” he added. “If the full match happens and we are unable to bowl them out, they will have the time to score 350 runs. However, we will be left rubbing our hands if we bat for too long and a session gets spoilt due to rain. It is going to be a tough one, but that’s the bullet that India must bite,” he added.
However, Aakash Chopra also added that India were expecting to win the match easily when Sri Lanka were reduced to 90/5 after Mohammed Siraj and Manav Suthar had struck early in the host’s chase. But things changed with a 150-run stand between Sonal Dinusha, and Niroshan Dickwella as well.
“We had grabbed them at the start. Miyan Magic started it, and Manav Suthar came after that. The opposing team was 90/5, and you were sniffing that you would give the follow-on and win this game quite convincingly. We have batted them out of the game, in a sense, and that feeling came at 90/5. However, then came Sonal Dinusha, and Niroshan Dickwella was there with him, and they stitched together a nearly 150-run partnership. Because of that partnership, they reached a place from where there is no follow-on anymore,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
