5 Key Contributors For India’s Famous Win At Oval

The Indian Cricket Team produced a sensational comeback win in the 4th Test match played at Kennington Oval, London on Monday. It was an amazing performance by Virat Kohli’s led side who showed great character after being bundled out for a low total in the first innings.

The bowlers restricted England to a reasonable lead before Indian batsmen produced a great effort to post a massive total.

The Indian bowlers then produced a brilliant effort to skittle out England and register a win at Oval after a gap of 50 years. Despite the team effort, few performances stood out leading India for a famous win and helped India retain Pataudi Trophy.

Here we look at the 5 key contributors for India during the famous win at the Oval

Shardul Thakur

Shardul Thakur was included in the playing XI replacing Ishant Sharma. After being invited into the bat by England, India lost wickets at regular intervals and was reduced to 127 for 7. Thakur showed class and created pressure on English batsmen with aggressive strokes.

He kept on playing attacking strokes after the tea break and completed a half-century off just 31 balls. It was a great inning by Thakur eventually being dismissed by Woakes for 57 off 36 balls with 7 fours and 3 sixes helping India post 191 in the first innings.

He rose to the occasion while bowling grabbing the important wicket of well-set Ollie Pope. Thakur gave runs in the first session to Bairstow and Pope. Thakur came to the rescue again scoring a quickfire 60 off 72 balls and putting on 100 runs with Pant. His knock helped India post a massive total in the 2nd innings.

Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed looked well set on the fifth day before Thakur produced a peach to dismiss Burns after reaching his fifty. Thakur got rid of England captain Root taking the inside edge onto the stumps to help India inch close to victory. He finished with 2 for 22 in 9 overs.

Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma played an important role for India in the 2nd innings. After conceding a 99 runs lead, Rohit and KL Rahul saw the new ball off on 2nd day. He then showed class leaving the ball against top-quality pace bowling.

Rohit was dropped twice by Rory Burns at slips and took advantage of it. The Indian openers laid a strong foundation putting on 83 runs. After the wicket of KL Rahul, Rohit continued his style of play and reached his fifty off 145 balls.

The opener kept the scoreboard ticking rotating the strike and hitting boundaries at will. Rohit scored his maiden overseas century with a six off Moeen Ali.

He continued to play with flair and was eventually out after the 2nd new ball was taken. Rohit scored 127 off 256 balls hitting 14 fours and 1 six helping India to lay a strong foundation for a massive score.

Umesh Yadav

Umesh Yadav was included in the playing XI replacing Mohammad Shami. After being bundled out for 191 runs, the pacer struggled initially to Root and Malan. Before the close of play, Umesh produced a peach getting rid of England’s captain putting the hosts under pressure.

Yadav then got wickets of nightwatchman Craig Overton and David Malan to leave England in tatters. He struggled with line and lengths giving away runs to Bairstow and Pope.

He finished with figures of 3 for 76 runs in 19 overs. In the second innings, Yadav contributed vital 25 runs in quick time to set England a massive target.

Umesh Yadav got rid of Chris Woakes at the stroke of tea break. He then dismissed Craig Overton with that hit the elbow onto the stumps with 2nd new ball and grabbed the final wicket of James Anderson to help India register a remarkable 157 runs win. His performances could not be denied as he finished with figures of 3 for 60 in 18.2 overs in the 2nd innings.

Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah was at his prime best in the entire Test match. He bowled with pace and accuracy dismissing both Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed to rattle the England innings.

After the first two wickets, Bumrah bowled steady lines and lengths but failed to pick any more wickets in the first innings. He took 2 for 67 in 21 overs as the other pacers did a superb job.

Bumrah produced a superb knock in the 2nd innings scoring classy 24 runs along with Umesh Yadav. He struggled initially on fourth day to Hameed and Burns. His performance initially on the final day was not up to the mark.

After the lunch break, Bumrah produced a classic display of fast bowling grabbing wickets of Ollie Pope and Jonny Bairstow with beauties reducing England into big trouble.

He never allowed England batsmen to score runs easily. His performance stood out as he gave just 27 runs from 22 overs with 9 maidens at an economy of just 1.22 runs per over.

Virat Kohli

The Indian captain Virat Kohli played an important role in both innings. Despite not scoring big runs, Kohli looked impressive on a seaming friendly condition. He came after the fall of Pujara with India struggling at 39 for 3.

Kohli looked impressive with strokes putting the bad balls away for boundaries. He was lucky enough as Joe Root dropped a chance at slips. After drop chance, Kohli played according to the situation and reached his fifty off 85 balls. He was eventually dismissed by beauty to Ollie Robinson.

In the second innings, Kohli played according to the situation after fall of 2 quick wickets with 2nd new ball. He steadied the ship along with Jadeja on the 3rd day and continued till the 5th day.

Kohli could not convert his 44 into a big score as he was dismissed by Moeen Ali. The captain was angry enough but provided the stability in both innings.

Leave a Comment

x