“We did speak about it a lot of the day” - Morne Morkel reveals reason behind delay in declaration on Day 4 vs England

Team India bowling coach Morne Morkel has come out in support of India’s decision to delay their declaration on Day 4 of the Edgbaston Test. Interestingly, India set a 608-run target against England in the fourth innings of the ongoing Test.

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In the second innings, India went on to post 427/6 in 83 overs before declaring their innings. Captain Shubman Gill went on to score a 161-run knock in 162 balls, making his third century of the series in four innings.

Attending the post-day press conference, Morkel stated that the reason behind delaying the declaration is the wicket still assisting batters towards the back end, giving four or five runs per over. Interestingly, India had given 16 overs for England to bat at the end of Day 4 as they lost three wickets for 72 runs at stumps.

"That's a good question. We did speak about it a lot of the day. But I think we see that it's still a good wicket. Even our boys were batting quite comfortably towards the back end at 4 or 5 runs an over. With you having the extra day, I mean, weather, you can't really control that. It was getting us into a comfortable position with the bat, and then, obviously, tonight, have 20-plus overs at them and hopefully gloomy grey skies, and get the two or three wickets, and we got that, which is a bonus for us," said Morkel at the post-day press conference.

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"So yeah, tomorrow morning that first hour is gonna be crucial. We saw this morning that, you know, if you get the ball in the right area, there was a little bit of assistance and yeah, we just need to be on the money with that tomorrow,” he added.

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