Aakash Chopra Believes England Are the Favorites To Win Lord’s Test
Former Indian batsman Aakash Chopra feels that England have their noses in front going into Day 5 of the Lord’s Test. The match is set up for a grandstand finish, with Team India leading England by just 154 runs with four wickets in hand.
Rishabh Pant was in the company of Ishant Sharma, and the onus will be on him to get India closer to the 200-run lead mark. The Lord’s pitch had become considerably slow but batting isn’t as hard as it would be on a typical Day 5 track, as per Chopra.
“You can kill me for that, I am saying England to win. I feel England will win this encounter because the pitch has become slower but not deteriorated.”
“An odd ball is staying low or climbing, it is not a variable bounce that might disturb you and it is not going to turn that much,” he noted.
With Team India’s tail not really known for wagging, Chopra stated that the Indian innings is likely to be wrapped up in under 20 overs. Add to that the fact that England will have the new ball in hand, Chopra was skeptical about the Men in Blue’s chances of setting up a 200+ total.
“India will be all out in the first 20 overs. If we are all out inside twenty overs, what is the kind of score that you are looking at? 190 I think is where India will reach. If they go beyond that, the story will be different.”
“India’s chances of defending will increase significantly if it is a score over 200. But I think it might not be possible to reach there with the second new ball and the long tail that we have,” he pointed out.
“If India can get to near 200, then it won’t be easy for England” – Aakash Chopra
Rishabh Pant, who is batting on 14 at the moment, will have to farm the majority of the strike. The new ball is a double-edged sword since runs can come by quickly if the batsman can get the ball away. There’s also variable bounce which might aid India later on.
“You are right, this will be a typical fifth day wicket of a Test match, where the ball will go up and down and is also turning like we saw. So, again like I said earlier, if we can take the target near 200 runs, then it won’t be easy for England,” Chopra concluded.
If England hopes to chase the target down, their talismanic skipper and the batsman in form, Joe Root, will again have to do the majority of the scoring.
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