Ravi Shastri has proposed that India take a radical approach to win the Guwahati Test by declaring 90-100 runs short of South Africa’s first-innings total of 489.
Shastri believes India can give themselves a chance of winning the Test (and squaring the series) if they score their runs quickly and invite the Proteas to bat again on a potentially deteriorating pitch, even 100 runs short of their first-innings total. His comments came after South Africa put on a commanding display of batting to score 489 in Guwahati.
“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 calling the game for the Star network.
The South Africa batters made merry on a much conducive surface for batting in Guwahati. All but one got into double digits, with Senuran Muthusamy scoring a maiden Test ton from No.7 and Marco Jansen hitting a career-best 93 from No.9. India then finished the day unharmed at 9-0, still trailing by 480.
How have teams that declared with a first-innings deficit fared in Test cricket
Only 33 times has a team declared in the second innings of a Test match while still trailing. On only three of those occasions have they won.
The first such instance came on England’s tour of the West Indies in 1934/35. With pitches not covered during rain back in the day, incessant showers rendered the wicket near unplayable and the visitors declared with a 21-run first-innings deficit. West Indies captain Jackie Grant then boldly declared their second innings to set England 73 to win, but Wally Hammond held one end to take the English to the win.
The second game was the infamous Centurion Test of England’s 1999/00 tour of South Africa. As play wasn’t possible on the second, third and fourth days of the Test, Hansie Cronje had South Africa declare their first innings for 248-8 and offered England a target of 249 to win the Test. The two sides declared their respective second innings and England then got through in thrilling fashion by two wickets. As it transpired, Cronje’s intentions were not exactly noble.
The third time a team won after declaring with a first-innings deficit were Australia, who declared 43 behind West Indies’ first-innings total of 449-9 in the 2012 Bridgetown Test. They then bowled out West Indies for 148 and chased down the 192-run total with three wickets to spare.
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