ENG vs IND: Our take on the 4th Test. #4 OUR TAKE.

ENG vs IND 4th Test: India takes an invincible lead of 2-1 in the series. The Oval victory is very crucial for the series win. Virat Kohli, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane will be our taking point for this blog post. Welcome to the #4 episode of OUR TAKE series here on thesportshabit.com

Virat Kohli’s captaincy. He is just mindblowing on the final day, So much to admire in the 4th innings from Virat Kohli. I have said it already in the earlier article about the help he gets from the minister around him with the likes of Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma, etc. We have to now close the debate about his captaincy here. On the batting end, I am pretty sure he will be back with Virat Kohli version 3.0.

Future of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. I think that Rahane will get a break, I might be wrong. With the youth talent, we have in reserve including Hanuma Vihari, Mayank Agarwal, Suryakumar Yadav, and many more incoming, Rahane and Pujara should be given a break. Not because of their performance but for the team’s future. Let’s take the example of MS Dhoni, he came and settled down, who many wicket keepers could not play the highest level because Dhoni was strong at that place. Of course, MS performed splendidly but you know he knew his time was up. Had he played 3 to 4 years more, Rishabh Pant’s career would not be as grand as it is now. He has the time to grow for the 2023 world cup.

Rohit Sharma as an opener. Rohit Sharma is set as an opener now and he is delivering big scores too. Especially, in the current series, he is brilliant. Everyone has been talking about his batting and we are too. For him, Better late than never works perfectly. I think his position is booked for some time now.

KL Rahul making team selection looks stupid. With the chance, he got unexpectedly, as Mayank was out for the first Test because of the concussion, did not got wasted. Scoring runs like a hungry lion hunting for prey. What looks funny is that KL did not get too many chances after the 2018 England series, with many young openers were tested. But, now he is making team selection before the series look stupid. He will be long-term is KL Rahul.

Ravindra Jadeja attracts mixed opinions. Looking solely at this test, with the help Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja were getting, Ashwin would have eaten three to four English players very easily. On the flip side, If Ashwin would have batted in the place of Ravindra Jadeja, he would not be as reliable as Jadeja. It’s tough for the team selection to make such decisions. No one will remember Ashwin because Shardul performed exceptionally. But had we lost the Test or drawn by a small margin, Everyone would be blaming team selection. For me, Ashwin was a better choice in place of Jadeja in this particular Test. Let’s bet that Ashwin is playing at Manchester, although it is not at all a spin-friendly pitch.

Umesh Yadav, a top talent losing because of his age. Umesh Yadav had a pretty confident return to the Indian side. Picking up some crucial wickets at difficult times. Fans will hope to see more of him. He is not going to play a large number of matches because the competition in the bowling department is immense. Shami, Bumrah, Umesh, Ishant, Shardul (All-rounder), Siraj, Buvneshwar, Saini, Natarajan, Prasidh Krishna, just WOW. What treasure does India have? Even Umesh will be happy seeing any of them play.

Rishabh Pant demands respect. Let’s not lie to the fact that he has grown with tremendous speed. Just recap the 2018 England series and look at the chances he was fumbling behind the stumps but not now. Batting is really off this series but you know that happens to everyone. Let’s not get carried away and give him the respect he deserves.

Bowling Unit is like a robot. Indian bowling unit is like a robot programmed to doom the opponents. It is so scary from the opponent’s standpoint to look at the bowling lineup. It was very rare for India to get pace bowlers to become a match-winner but now It has many, not one. In the spin department, Ashwin, Jadeja, Axar, Kuldeep, you name it and we have it.

It is the OUR TAKE series on every match of India. the # number 4. Read #3 HERE, #2 HERE, #1 HERE.