Highlights:
- India leads the 5-match test series against England 2-1
- Former England captain Nasser Hussain lauds Kohli captaincy in Oval test match
- From trailing by 99 runs to winning the match by 157, Team India showed its superiority
India conceded a 99-run lead to England, however, went on to win the match by 157 runs to lead the 5-match test series by 2-1 against the hosts. In the match, Team India showcased a great example of teamwork.
Though Kohli’s batting may not have earned him much praise but captaincy did. Things started falling in place for India in the second innings which was powered by the determination of every player to win.
Indi’s victory at The Oval on Sunday left many experts of the game spellbound. Meanwhile, former England captain Nasser Hussain, in his latest column for Daily Mail, wrote highly of Kohli’s captaincy.
The cricketer-turned-commentator stated that Virat Kohli has passed his captaincy test with “flying colours” as he led his side to a historic Test win.
In the column for the DailyMail, Hussain wrote, “I said at the start of the fifth day that it was going to be a big test of Virat Kohli’s captaincy and he passed that test with flying colours.
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“That Oval pitch offered very little for the seamers and only a bit of rough for Ravindra Jadeja’s left-arm spin. But somehow, he manufactured 10 English wickets on the last day. Every bowling change worked, and so did every tweak to the field.
“And when he took the second new ball after tea, it produced a wicket straightaway, with Umesh Yadav getting Craig Overton”.
Nasser further wrote, “One way or another, this was Kohli’s Midas Test everything he touched turned to gold, and India are now one game away from a famous series victory, not long after beating Australia in their own backyard.
“Even the non-selection of Ravichandran Ashwin, the top-ranked spinner in Test cricket, became irrelevant. People said India would miss him. Kohli said: ‘No, we won’t. I’m backing our seamers to do the job.’ And he was right”.
Not selecting Ashwin raised a few eyebrows, however, the visitors managed to pull off a memorable win. The former Three Lions skipper mentioned that Kohli made the best use of Jadeja, something which Root failed to do with Moeen Ali.
He wrote, “Kohli also used Jadeja cleverly – in a way that Root failed to do with Moeen Ali on the fourth day. By keeping his spinner on at one end, India’s captain could rotate the quicks at the other, using them in short, sharp bursts and keeping them fresh.
“By ignoring Moeen, Root ended up bowling his seamers into the ground, with possible consequences for the fifth Test at Old Trafford”.
The final test match will begin from the 10th of September and will be played at Old Trafford Cricket ground in Greater Manchester.