Former England player David Gower has lauded Virat Kohli’s leadership in the fourth Test against England at The Oval, saying he was relaxed and enjoying himself in the game of many ups and downs. Kohli led India to a Test victory, giving the team a 2-1 series lead with one game to spare.
“In a game with so many ups and downs, one of the hardest things as a captain is what happens in the dressing room – people don’t see it. It’s all about the ambiance of that room. Is this a reassuring room? Is this a comfortable room? Is this a designated room? Is this a rest room? All these things come.
“He (Kohli) is enjoying himself, he seems relaxed. And this is one of the most important tasks as a captain – helping to create the atmosphere in the room. So when India scored 466 in the second innings, that atmosphere must have been crucial. That performance on the last day. Having that result in the bag is definitely a big tick for Kohli’s captaincy,” Gower told cricket.com.
Gower said that Shardul Thakur’s contribution with the bat was the turning point when everyone was talking about R Ashwin’s ouster.
“The great irony about the whole game is that we were talking about Ashwin. But Shardul comes in and smashes it around the park – it wasn’t a big total, but it was much better than it could have been. The shot that Moeen played. This was not what the situation demanded. The situation demanded something different. The situation required Moeen to score another 20-30 runs, which would have changed the balance of the game.”
Meanwhile, former England captain Nasser Hussain also praised Kohli.
“I said at the beginning of the fifth day that it was going to be a big test of Virat Kohli’s captaincy – and he passed that test with full colour. That oval pitch offered little for the fast bowlers, and was only slightly rough for Ravindra Jadeja’s left-arm spin. But somehow he (Kohli) took 10 English wickets on the last day,” Hussain said in his Daily Mail column on Tuesday.
“Every bowling change worked, and so did every change in the field. And when he (Kohli) took the second new ball after tea, it produced a straight wicket with Umesh Yadav dismissing Craig Overton. One way or another, it was Kohli’s Midas Test – everything he touched turned gold, and India are now a game away from a famous series win, having defeated Australia in their own backyard.
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