‘People said India would miss Ashwin. Kohli said, ‘No, we won't’: Naseer Hussain hails Virat’s captaincy in Oval Test

From conceding 99-run lead to coming back in style and thumping the hosts by 157 runs to go-up 2-1 in the series, Team India showcased a great example of team work required to win a Test match. Kohli’s batting may not have earned much praise but captaincy did. Things started falling in place for India in the second innings which was powered by the determination of every player to win.

India’s triumph at The Oval on Sunday left many experts of the game spellbound. Meanwhile, former England captain Nasser Hussain, in his latest column for Daily Mail, wrote highly of Kohli’s captaincy. The cricketer-turned-commentator stated that Kohli has passed his captaincy test with ‘flying colours’ as he led his side to a historic Test win.

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“I said at the start of the fifth day that it was going to be a big test of Virat Kohli’s captaincy and he passed that test with flying colours,” Hussain wrote in his column in the DailyMail.

“That Oval pitch offered very little for the seamers and only a bit of rough for Ravindra Jadeja's left-arm spin. But somehow, he manufactured 10 English wickets on the last day. Every bowling change worked, and so did every tweak to the field. And when he took the second new ball after tea, it produced a wicket straightaway, with Umesh Yadav getting Craig Overton,” he added.

“One way or another, this was Kohli’s Midas Test everything he touched turned to gold, and India are now one game away from a famous series victory, not long after beating Australia in their own backyard

“Even the non-selection of Ravichandran Ashwin, the top-ranked spinner in Test cricket, became irrelevant. People said India would miss him. Kohli said: 'No, we won't. I'm backing our seamers to do the job.' And he was right,” he further wrote.

Ashwin’s non selection raised a few eyebrows but the visitors managed to pull off a memorable win. Hussain mentioned that Kohli made the best use of Jadeja, something which Root failed to do with Moeen Ali.

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“Kohli also used Jadeja cleverly – in a way that Root failed to do with Moeen Ali on the fourth day. By keeping his spinner on at one end, India's captain could rotate the quicks at the other, using them in short, sharp bursts and keeping them fresh. By ignoring Moeen, Root ended up bowling his seamers into the ground, with possible consequences for the fifth Test at Old Trafford,” Hussain stated.