The rescheduled fifth test between India and England started on Friday in Edgbaston, Birmingham. On day 1 punches, India’s score was 338/7 after a brilliant kickback by Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja, scoring the first 146 runs from just 111 balls. At one point, India was 98/5, but Jadeja and Pant set a 222-point lead for the 6th wicket. The fifth test was rescheduled after the final match had to be postponed last year following a few positive COVID-19 cases in the Indian camp.
Ravi Shastri, who was the coach of the Indian team until November last year, has explained why India was “just” in what they did last year.
“Look, back then it was really easy to grab the gun and say, go out and play. But there were a lot of players with young families. The word about COVID wasn’t 100 percent sure it came from somewhere. Everyone could have got it, if someone got it in the middle of a test match it would have been even worse.Unlike now where that fear factor of getting COVID and being isolated is not the same people know they have to keep going “If that mentality was there earlier and couldn’t have been eight months ago, because even the authorities didn’t know if they had a right to tell you to go through with it, nothing is going to happen, it’s just the flu,” he said. Shastri Friday to Sky Sports.
“Nowadays people say it’s just the flu, keep going no matter what. At the time, they were justified in doing what they did because of the mindset. If that happens today, the game must go on. Even then I was not in the locker room but I’m telling you I had half the mentality to probably think what you thought to get the reserves there and finish this series But it was a tough one, had someone tested positive during the test match, it would have been a big problem,” he added.
Last year India had taken a 2-1 lead after winning Tests at Lord’s and Oval.
If India manage to win or pull the ongoing Edgbaston test, they would win the series in the UK for the first time since 2007.
Coincidentally, in 2007 the now head coach Rahul Dravid captained the Indian team.
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Speaking of the series that kicked off last year, Shastri said: “I think it was a fantastic series. I think the entertainment provided by both teams was fantastic to watch. If you have a few test matches that day 5 go in and you have a result on the 5th day, it’s fantastic to see.”
“Lord’s, Oval and England are bouncing back at Leeds. Unfortunately it couldn’t be completed for obvious reasons, COVID what it was eight months ago, the mindset of the players as opposed to the way they are treating it now, it’s chalk and cheese But I’m glad this series would end here,” he added.
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