Former England captain Nasser Hussain has explained why the Day 5 proceedings of the action-packed 4th Test match is nothing but a test for Virat Kohli’s tactical acumen at The Oval on Monday. Leading the formidable Indian side in the high-profile Test series against England, Team India captain Kohli is leaving no stone unturned in terms of showing his acumen as a tactician and pure motivator to churn out results in the visitor’s favour.
One of the most celebrated voices in world cricket, Hussain also discussed the role of Rohit Sharma in assisting skipper Kohli from the slip cordon. Currently enjoying his purple patch in the second edition of the ICC World Test Championship against England, Rohit slammed a match-changing century to help India set a challenging total for the Joe Root-led side.
After ending his overseas century drought, Rohit didn’t take the field when England came out to bat in the 2nd innings on Day 4 at The Oval. Star batsmen Rohit and Cheteshwar Pujara are nursing niggles as India have opted to field substitutes for the remainder of the Oval Test match. Speaking to Sky Sports in the wake of the recent developments, Hussain explained why the final day of the Oval encounter is a big test for captain Kohli.
“It’s a big test for Kohli the captain who lives off emotion and passion. We saw that at Lord’s where he went in the huddle and said, ‘Unleash hell’ and they did unleash hell on the England batting lineup. Today is a more tactical nous work to get 10 wickets on a very flat pitch. The thing that is obviously in Kohli’s favour is that this is what India were brought up. This is a normal service for them really,” Hussain said.
After guiding India to a mammoth total of 466 in their 2nd innings, opener Rohit sustained a knee injury and the star batsman was assessed by the BCCI Medical Team. Rohit played out an impressive 127-run knock in the Oval Test match against England.
“It will be interesting to see if Rohit Sharma is out there with him because I like the combination in that slip cordon of Kohli with his passion and emotion, reving them up, and you often look at Rohit next to him, and the tactical stuff comes from Rohit for me. It will be interesting thing if he’s out there because it will be a big, big day for Kohli the tactician not just the passion, energy and emotion,” Hussain added.
