India vs England 2016: 4th Test, day 4 - 5 Talking Points
India are firmly in control of proceedings at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai at the end of Day 4 of the fourth Test against England with the hosts just six wickets away from a series-clinching victory.
Skipper Virat Kohli notched up his highest individual first-class score as well as the highest ever by an Indian captain in Test cricket while youngster Jayant Yadav brought up his debut Test ton breaking a number of records along the way.
Also read: Who Said What: World reacts to Virat Kohli's record-breaking double century
England debutant Keaton Jennings was brought down to earth with his century knock in the first innings followed by a golden duck in the second while Ravindra Jadeja struck twice before tea to firmly hand the advantage to the hosts. Jonny Bairstow, however, stood firm and is especially keen to remind everyone that he is on par with Kohli.
With Team India holding the upper hand going into the final day of play on Monday, let’s take a look at the five major talking points that created headlines on the fourth day of the Mumbai Test.
#1 Virat Kohli saved the best for last
To say that the year 2016 belonged to Kohli would be an understatement. The Indian Test skipper has literally owned the opposition bowlers all year round all over the world. He started off with his heroics in the T20 format, especially the World T20, followed by the IPL but as the year progressed, we have witnessed Kohli’s transformation from a good Test player to a truly outstanding one.
India have only played three Test series this year and the very fact that Kohli has scored a double century in all three of them is a testimony to Kohli’s growing stature in the longest format of the game. While the knock in West Indies brought up his first ever first-class double century, Kohli became the first Indian skipper to bring up two double centuries in Test cricket with his knock against New Zealand in the third Test at Indore.
The third double ton, which he completed earlier today against England, has, however, been the best and most important one out of the lot. With England scoring 400 in the first innings, the hosts were in a spot of bother at the end of day 3 despite Murali Vijay’s brilliant century with the main motive being not to concede a first innings lead.
However, Kohli, with good support from Yadav at the other end, not only made sure that India had a sizeable lead in hand but also deflated any hopes the England side might have had to launch a fightback in the series.
Kohli’s knock of 235 was the highest by an Indian skipper in Tests but considering the rich vein of form he has been in 2016, it would not be a big surprise if he rewrites the history books once again during the final Test in Chennai.