A
shallow
showboat
for
some.
A
free-spirited
and
animated
man
for
some
other.
But
at
the
Oval,
the
outpouring
of
his
expressions
made
perfect
sense.
From
the
starting
point
this
series
against
England,
Kohli
has
been
under
scrutiny,
primarily
for
the
non-selection
of
R
Ashwin.

It
evolved
into
a
national
topic
of
discussion,
social
media
was
on
fire
and
Kohli
standing
as
the
prime
villain
in
almost
all
threads.
You
know
the
kind
from
Hollywood
flicks
–
cold
and
ready
to
burn
the
world
for
his
ego.
His
struggle
for
runs
in
the
series
too
gave
that
whole
villainy
plot
a
devious
turn.

But
yes,
Kohli
remained
cold
to
all
that
outside
noise.
Even
when
he
was
asked
about
team
combination,
his
replies
were
more
prosaic
laced
with
all
that
intent,
template,
focus
etc.
When
we
thought
Kohli
would
bristle
like
a
cowboy
with
cigar
on
his
lips,
the
Indian
skipper
gave
us
a
suited-up
diplomat
version
of
him.

Kohli
just
expressed
his
unwavering
faith
on
the
template
–
four
fast
bowlers
and
one
spinner
in
Ravindra
Jadeja
–
on
all
those
occasions.

But
at
the
Oval,
Kohli
was
perilously
close
to
descending
into
an
even
deeper
hole
for
sticking
to
his
guns.
India
were
127
for
7
on
the
first
day,
then
they
conceded
a
99
runs
lead
and
then
saw
Haseeb
Hameed
and
Rory
Burns
building
a
100-run
partnership
in
England’s
second
innings.

In
fact,
England
had
all
the
10
wickets
intact
on
the
final
day,
and
the
pitch
though
scuffed
up
was
not
hiding
any
demons.
Indian
bowlers’ perseverance
was
certain
to
get
tested.

India
needed
that
one
big
effort
to
complete
the
work
Rohit
Sharma,
Cheteshwar
Pujara
and
Shardul
Thakur
did
with
the
bat.

“The
character
that
the
side
has
shown,
to
come
back
from
a
near
100-run
deficit
showed
that
we
were
not
down
and
out.
I
said
at
the
Lord’s
as
well,
I
am
proud
of
the
character
of
the
team.
This
was
among
the
top
three
bowling
performances
I
have
witnessed
as
India
captain.

“It’s
relative
–
what
you
call
flat,
field
wasn’t
wet
like
the
first
three
days,
ball
got
scuffed
up
nicely,
one
side
heavier,
and
exploited
the
reverse
swing
perfectly.
We
believed
as
a
team
that
we
could
get
all
10
wickets.”

Nobody
embodied
that
thought
more
visibly
than
Jasprit
Bumrah.
Ollie
Pope
had
that
look
of
disbelief
when
Bumrah
nipped
one
back
slightly
from
the
length
to
sneak
the
ball
past
his
bat
and
pads
to
rattle
the
timber.

But
on
Jonny
Bairstow’s
face
disbelief
transformed
into
helplessness.
Bumrah
seared
in
a
yorker
at
140
kmph
clicks
and
it
rearranged
his
stumps
before
he
could
bring
his
bat
down.
A
few
balls
later,
Bumrah
could
have
had
Joe
Root
too
with
another
burning
yorker
but
the
England
skipper
was
a
bit
luckier.

“Big
effort,
giving
away
just
27
runs
off
22
overs
on
this
kind
of
pitch
is
a
huge
effort.
When
it
started
reversing
Bumrah
said
give
me
the
ball,”
said
Kohli.
It
was
almost
as
if
that
cold
focus
of
Kohli
has
been
percolated
into
the
bowlers.
They
just
did
not
care
about
the
character
of
the
pitch
or
conditions,
their
attention
was
on
how
to
eke
out
the
best
out
of
old
ball.

It
led
to
a
catastrophic
afternoon
where
England
middle-order
was
blown
away
like
a
rotten
twig
in
a
display
of
brilliant
reverse
swing.
But
Jadeja’s
effort
might
have
had
the
most
pleasing
effect
on
Kohli.
It
was
that
decision
to
prefer
him
over
Ashwin
earned
Kohli
a
few
blows.

After
all,
Ashwin
has
the
better
record
against
the
left-handers
and
England
had
three
of
them
in
Burns,
Moeen
Ali
and
Dawid
Malan
in
the
top
order.
Jadeja
did
not
give
too
many
freebies
and
an
analysis
of
30-11-50-2
at
a
run-rate
of
1.66
from
the
left-arm
spinner
helped
India
maintain
pressure
on
England.

The
wicket
of
Moeen
meant
that
Root’s
men
would
have
to
negotiate
pressure
from
both
ends
and
merely
seeing
of
Bumrah
will
not
suffice.
A
fall
of
4
for
6
too
heavy
for
England
to
negate
on
the
final
noon.

Kohli’s
words
reflected
it.
“We
never
go
towards
statistics,
we
know
what
we
focus
on,
we
take
a
call
on
what
feel
best
for
the
team
and
we
believe
we
can
win
Tests
with
it.
Whatever
the
noise
on
the
outside,
it
doesn’t
bother
us,” he
said.

Yes,
we
are
doubly
certain
of
it
now!