Former head coach Ravi Shastri has slammed Team India’s "timid" and "defensive" batting approach in their second innings in the ongoing rescheduled fifth Test against England at Edgbaston.
According to Shastri, it was this approach that allowed the hosts to stage a comeback on Day 4 after being outplayed for the first three days.
The visitors took a first-innings lead of 132 runs but their second innings folded for 245, missing a golden opportunity to bat England out of the game.
Chasing 378 to win, the home team was on 259/3 at stumps on Day 4, needing 119 more runs to win the Test match and draw the series 2-2.
"I think (it was) disappointing, to say the least, because they could have batted England out of this contest," said Shastri, who is part of the Sky Sports commentary panel for this Test match.
"They needed to bat two sessions and I thought they were defensive, they were timid today, especially after lunch.
"Even after they had lost those wickets, they could have taken some chances. Runs were important at that stage of the game and I thought they just went into a shell, lost those wickets too quickly, and gave enough time for England to bat today," he added.
The rescheduled Test is counted as the last match of India's 2021 series in England, which the tourists lead by 2-1. The fifth Test was postponed at the eleventh hour following a Covid-19 outbreak in the Indian camp.
Notably, Shastri was the head coach of the Indian team when they took an unbeatable lead in the series last year.
(With PTI inputs)
