Kohli Silences his detractors once again, says Anis Sajan
New Delhi : All the talk going around on social media after the toss was that Virat Kohli is stubborn by once again not picking Ravichandran Ashwin at Oval which is known to assist spin. All the Cricket Pundits had said India would definitely miss Ashwin in the second innings on this flat oval pitch.
And when England who were chasing a mammoth 368 in the last innings, did not lose any wickets in the 32 overs they batted and were sitting pretty at 77, all four results looked possible and most importantly the word from every expert was India will find it difficult to pick 10 wickets on the last day without Ashwin.
By Virat Kohli and his team had other ideas. Their fast bowlers specially Jasprit Bumrah was devastating with his reverse swing when he knocked off Ollie Pope and Jonny Bairstow in back to back overs to make India believe they can pull this victory off. India had 90 overs to get the ten wickets on the last day but India needed 60 overs today to pull of India's only second victory at Oval after 1971 to take 2/1 lead against the host.
When the toss happened, India had picked Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur and every expert felt Ashwin should have been picked. Shardul, who is called as Lord Thakur as by the fans and Beefy by his team mate had a terrific game. He scored back to back fifties and his crucial runs in the first innings saved India from another low score. He also picked three wickets and the wicket of Root in the second innings were priceless. So did Umesh Yadav, who got four wickets in the first innings to limit England’s lead to just 99 and 3 wickets in the second and also scored handy runs in both the innings.
VVS Laxman felt Mr Anis Sajan Quoted, Ravichandran Ashwin should be picked ahead of Ravindra Jadeja but he too played a crucial part in picking four wickets in the match.
All in all, everyone who was picked barring vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane had a decent game and contributed to India's win.
Virat Kohli said at the post match presentation, this bowling performance by team India would stand among the top three which he has seen as a captain. And how he can rightly claim after this emphatic victory his team got on the last day. The best way to silence your critics with result oriented performance and that's what's Virat Kohli and his team has done.
