Virat Kohli and co. turn the screws as England throw in the towel, almost

The peculiar thing about this fourth Test in Mumbai is that every morning the match has hung in the balance. Both teams have had the chance to take the game by the scruff of its neck and give it a new direction.

England did it on day one, and on day two. Then, India took the initiative on day three, and despite Virat Kohli’s masterclass on a turning wicket, the hosts led by only 51 runs. Fate had given the visitors another chance to fight hard on day four and turn the game in a new direction.

It didn’t happen. Not only because Kohli and Jayant Yadav denied them with a scintillating partnership. But, the foremost factor for England’s troubles was their lack of energy on Sunday morning. The fielders were listless, the bowlers needed more vigour and the entire team look sapped of intention to make things tough again for the batsmen.

Lethargy from the English

The exact moment, when their team slid into a lethargic manifestation of what should have been an otherwise energetic bunch, is difficult to fathom. Perhaps it was on the evening of day three, when Alastair Cook went for a non-existent review against Jayant Yadav and lost it. Later, the batsman didn’t walk when he did actually nick it behind.

You could feel the soul go out of England’s effort thereafter. Not that Cook had a lot of control over proceedings until then, and yet it seemed that he didn’t even want the chance to get things back into shape. Almost as if Cook – and England on the whole as a reflection of their captain – had resigned themselves to fate, of Kohli batting for as long as he wanted, and then picking up the pieces from there.

It is imperative to halt here, and underline Cook’s approach. Before the series began, the English skipper talked about giving up captaincy and concentrating solely on batting. There has been a lot of surrounding chatter, too much debate, with Joe Root featuring prominently therein. If ever the powers that run English cricket wanted proof that Cook’s captaincy is done, Sunday was it.

And this could be easily identified by anyone who has followed Indian cricket for long. For this day’s proceedings had similar traits to the ones that appeared when MS Dhoni’s captaincy was on its last legs. When things didn’t go to plan in Old Trafford, and then meandered at the Oval on the 2014 tour, when the same was repeated in Brisbane and Melbourne on the Australian tour thereafter, the captain looked done, at the end of his road.

End of the road for Cook?

After the disaster in England, Dhoni shouldn’t have led in Australia in the first place. But he found it within himself to walk away, when he saw in Adelaide that Kohli had progressed as a leader.

The question to ask is if Cook was able to see the same when Root bowled on day three – the abundant energy he brought to the field as he took two quick wickets. It rejuvenated the English side within the span of that short spell. And when – not if – the visitors do lose this Test (and the series), it should spell the end of Cook’s captaincy, whether by his own free will or by a gentle pat on the back.

Now, coming back to when Cook did let things drift, the biggest flaw in England’s waiting approach was they couldn’t plan on how long Kohli wanted to bat. At the crease, with the tail-enders for company, it was imperative that the Indian skipper score as many runs as possible, thus denying England both time and space to assume control of this Test.

Simply put, Kohli didn’t want to bat fourth, not for too long anyway, and thus his initiative to get as much ahead as possible. And in this endeavour, he found help from both Jayant Yadav and the opposition. While England concentrated on Kohli, setting defensive fields, Yadav was able to attack the bowling and accelerate the scoring.

“Jayant Yadav is already an all-rounder”

50 runs came in the first 38 minutes of play. 78 runs came in the first hour of play. By the time England realized their folly, and tried to put brakes in the second hour of the morning, it was already too late. Both batsmen were set and didn’t give the English half a chance until India had reached their desired destination.

“For us he is already an all-rounder,” Kohli had said about Yadav’s introduction to Test cricket. Within the span of one month, he has gone from an unknown quantity to the third-possible spin option to a certainty in the line-up whenever India want to play five bowlers. To say that he has a mature head on his shoulders would be too obvious.

Instead, Yadav’s keen awareness of the game needs to be applauded. On day three, with Kohli in full flow, he was happy enough to stay at the wicket. On the morning of day four, seeing as England were trying to bowl a negative line to his partner, he took the initiative and matched him in scoring briskly.

“It is a journey and I have just started it. There is always room for improvement and I would like to improve in all facets of the game, most importantly in my bowling,” said Yadav after scoring his maiden Test hundred.

It is easy to assume that, as the second off-spinner in the eleven, Yadav would be content to be in R Ashwin’s shadow. Clearly, this isn’t so. But this contemplation about his bowling can come later. For now, he can revel in the celebration of his achievement.

For, on a day when the Wankhede egged on Kohli to accentuate his masterpiece into a record-breaking double hundred, Yadav held his own ground.