India vs England 2021: Sir Alastair Cook And Michael Vaughan Rate India’s Chances Of Chasing Down 420

The fifth day of the ongoing first Test between India and England at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai is well poised to be a thrilling one. England made 578 and 178 in their two innings, while India made 337 and is set a target of 420 runs to win the match, out of which they have made 39 runs for the loss of Rohit Sharma’s wicket.

Therefore, when India comes out on day 5, they will still need 381 runs with 9 wickets in hand and former England captains Sir Alastair Cook and Michael Vaughan rated the chances of the Indian national cricket team of winning the Test match and going 1-0 up in the four-Test series, which is crucial from the ICC World Test Championship viewpoint as well.

England have dominated for four days, so giving India a chance isn’t ideal: Alastair Cook

The tourists were bowled out with just 13 overs remaining in the day and many criticized captain Joe Root’s decision of not declaring the innings, once the lead went past 400 runs.

“You can never rule it out [an Indian victory]. The modern way is that bigger chases have occurred. It will be a shock if India does get there. Someone will have to play a magical inning. But who would have said West Indies would chase 395 against Bangladesh with a guy getting 200 on debut?! Anything can happen in cricket.” Sir Alastair Cook told Sky Sports.

“I hope that doesn’t happen and we want more of those balls that Leach bowled to Rohit Sharma. England have dominated for four days pretty much so to give India a bit of a chance isn’t ideal,” the former captain added.

Indian national cricket team finds itself in a good position despite poor performances on three days: Michael Vaughan

Michael Vaughan, who famously won England the Ashes in 2005 against Australia was of opinion that India had played poorly for the first three days of the Chennai Test, yet found themselves in a very good position.

“It’s a great position India have found themselves in after playing so poorly for three days. They’ve now got a sniff of getting out of the Test match. Virat Kohli will be quietly delighted. I’d say that England has won every single session barring that last one. They’ve played incredible cricket to get themselves in a position of dominance. That last session they seemed to get confused about the way they wanted to play. Someone’s said that India can still win this game and that’s feared them,” Vaughan told Sky Sports as well.

However, the 46-year-old didn’t see India winning the match on the final day with the pitch taking quite a sharp turn. He further mentioned that India can only get there if they have 2-3 massive partnerships.

“I can’t see India getting the runs. It’s going to be so hard for a batsman to start on this surface. They’ll need a big, big partnership because I think there will be wickets that fall in clusters,” Michael Vaughan signed off.

Also Read: India vs England 2021: Joe Root Is Being Too Cautious – Michael Vaughan And Shane Warne Baffled By England’s Late Declaration