'Those five overs were a bonus'; why India continued batting till lead crossed 600

BIRMINGHAM: India secured a historic victory against England in the second test in the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy on Sunday. Captain Shubman Gill's decision to post a mammoth target of 608 runs had surprised many, including former players. After gaining a 180-run lead in the first innings, India piled on 427 runs for the loss of six wickets in their second innings.

While many expected India to declare the innings once the lead crossed 550, the team batted on for a few more overs late into Day 4, adding an additional 58 runs. Now, the reason behind this delayed declaration has come to light. Speaking after the match, bowling coach Morne Morkel revealed that the team management held a discussion in the dressing room before making the decision.

"It was a good batting wicket at that stage. Our batters were scoring at a rate of four to five runs an over. We can't control the weather conditions, but we wanted to build a strong lead, give England around 20-25 overs to bat, and try to take a few wickets, which we managed to do," said Morkel in the post-match press conference.

India's decision to delay the declaration had drawn criticism from some former England players. However, those critics were silenced as England lost three wickets by the end of Day 4. Chasing 608, England were bowled out for just 271 on the final day.

Skipper Shubman Gill was named Player of the Match for his stellar batting performance, scoring 269 and 161 in the two innings. Meanwhile, pacer Akash Deep wreaked havoc with the ball, taking six wickets for 99 runs in the second innings to go with his four-wicket haul in the first, claiming a match tally of 10 wickets. With this emphatic victory, the five-match series is now evenly poised at 1-1.