India must be brave with their timing of the declaration on the day four of the Galle Test against Sri Lanka to maintain their hopes to qualify for the ICC World Test Championship, said former India batter Cheteshwar Pujara.
With nine Tests remaining in the current WTC cycle, India will need to win at least six or seven matches to keep their chances alive to qualify for the final next year. Shubman Gill's men can therefore ill afford to drop points in Galle, where the match has seen a chunk of overs taken out from the first three days of play due to persistent rain.
After posting 462 in the first innings, India bowled out Sri Lanka for 284 on Monday, taking only a 178-run lead. Pujara said India will need to accelerate smartly during Tuesday's play to ensure they have enough time in hand to bowl out the host again, keeping the weather conditions in mind.
"India will have to make their intentions very clear. Not a lot of time is left in the Test match. Also, you have to keep an eye on the forecast. You can't ignore it. To qualify for the WTC final, they will have to win both the Test matches. To do that, they will have to be a little brave and a little more aggressive," Pujara told on Cricinfo.
"India will have to be brave with their declaration. They will have to give enough time to the bowlers. Maybe try and look at a minimum of 90-100 overs. To do that, India will have to declare at somewhere between 350-375. In worst case scenario, if Sri Lanka get to 350-375, give credit to Sri Lanka, but India will have to be brave," Pujara added.
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