Birmingham, July 5 (IANS) Former wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik has suggested that India should bat for 10 to 12 overs and aim to get the lead between 500 and 530 runs before asking England to chase in the ongoing second Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test at Edgbaston.

At tea, India’s lead stood at 484 runs, with Shubman Gill making a masterly century – his third in four innings as captain, while Rishabh Pant smashed 65. “Bat for 10-12 overs, get as much as possible – 500, 530, whatever – and then put England in and try to get a couple of wickets before stumps,” said Karthik on Sky Sports’ broadcast during tea interval.

Mark Butcher, the former England cricketer, opined India might bat for a little longer to ensure the hosts’ are well and truly batted out of the game. “India have lost a bit of a window but it is a legacy, a tribute, to the fear Stokes and England put into teams when setting fourth-innings targets.”

“India want to make sure England are completely and utterly out of it and then you ask a team reticent to draw games whether they can do it. Can a team not renowned for defending and seeing out games do that? The conditions say you should be able to.”

After Pant fell for a tempo increasing 65, Gill was joined by Ravindra Jadeja, who didn’t show much intent in batting and reached tea with a bizarre 25 not out off 68 balls against his name. The partnership between Gill and Jadeja for the fifth wicket was worth 68 off 130 balls at tea, something which Butcher found baffling.

“India could have given themselves more time to win the game by scoring faster. They did that while Pant was at the crease but not afterwards. Whether that turns out to be the right thing to do, we will find out tomorrow, but for now it is a little bit baffling.”

“At one stage it looked they were racing towards 500-plus and now they have stalled. All that has done is take time away. This pitch is still unbelievably good for batting, if not for cricket,” he concluded.

–IANS

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