Ravi Shastri Urges India to Take Risks for Comeback Against South Africa
Former Indian cricket coach Ravi Shastri believes that despite trailing 0–1 in the series against South Africa, the Indian team has a chance to bounce back. He emphasizes that for this comeback to happen, Gautam Gambhir, the team captain, must be ready to make bold tactical decisions. After Day 2 of the second Test in Guwahati, South Africa is in a strong position, leading India by a significant margin of 480 runs.
The visitors’ lead has been bolstered by impressive performances from their lower-order batsmen, including Senuran Muthusamy, who scored his first Test century, and Marco Jansen, who made a quickfire 93 runs off 91 balls. Their partnership helped South Africa set a challenging target of 489 runs, frustrating the Indian bowlers with smart play and patience.
With India in a tough spot, Shastri is calling for a shift away from a slow and defensive game plan. He believes the team should aim to score quickly, build a substantial total, and pressurize South Africa to bat again. He even suggests that the team might need to declare their innings even if they are still behind by 80 to 100 runs.
“India needs to decide how they handle the new ball and then push for victory. They may need to declare short to give themselves the best chance of bowling South Africa out quickly in the second innings,” Shastri stated on Star Sports.
While teams have declared their innings while trailing 33 times in Test history, only three of those efforts have ended in a victory. India has tried this strategy four times but has yet to win when doing so. Their most notable defeat came in 1948 against Australia when they declared 103 runs short. The other instances, against Pakistan in 1978, and against England in 1982 and 2012, resulted in draws.
As the match progresses, all eyes are on whether India will take the necessary risks to level the series at 1–1.
