Former England batter Kevin Pietersen and ex-Indian pacer Zaheer Khan both agreed that the Day 3 of the IND vs ENG 2nd Test belonged to India. England finished the day at 67/1 after being given a target of 399 to chase in fourth innings. Despite the tall target, Pietersen said India wasted opportunities to put the game beyond England’s reach when the lower batting-order and the tail enders failed to score enough runs. Zaheer, on the other hand said India were in a firm position but did not rule out England of the game completely.
India had a fruitful day on Day 3 of the IND vs ENG 2nd Test. Rohit Sharma’s men rode on a gritty century from Shubman Gill to increase their lead even further. Gill was ably helped by Axar Patel with a patient knock of 45. However, the tail-enders showed no intent to score runs and got out after being in the crease for long.
Speaking at the post-match show, Kevin Pietersen said India needed another 50 runs to knock England completely out of the game.
“I think it was India’s day today. India wasted opportunities to put the game beyond England’s reach. I don’t know what Ashwin was doing with the tail. If they had got over 400-450, it was 100% going to be a result for India,” Pietersen said.
Zaheer Khan asserted England will have a tough time chasing the huge total in the fourth innings. However, he refused to put England completely out of the equation.
“The day belonged to India. They are comfortably placed, although there is that outside chance for England if someone plays a blinder of an innings. It is only because of the previous game we are talking like this. England were 190 runs behind and they still managed to get back into the game through Ollie Pope’s innings. However, it is a big ask for England,” Zaheer said.
