If there’s a way, there’s a win

It was so fitting to see the current Indian team winning at The Oval with cricket enthusiasts and explayers mindful of the golden jubilee of the 1971 series win over England achieved at the same venue way back thenBy the way when I say ldquocricket enthusiasts and explayersrdquo I mean only them and not the establishment who has done nothing to suggest that they truly appreciate the efforts of Ajit Wadekar amp Co to win that historic series Some in the BCCI may need reminding that the 1971 team also won in the Caribbean Yes sirs it was Indiarsquos first series win over the West Indiesmdashbe it home or awayThe 1971 team appear to be all set to be passed over for honours but you never know what can happen in cricket and that includes administration One is hoping that one of themmdashprobably the president Sourav Gangulymdashmay just realise that itrsquos not just right to turn a blind eye to our 1971 heroesBe that as it may The Oval 2021 must go down as one of the finest Test wins by an Indian side Despite losing the toss and coming up with a nearfeeble first innings score of 191 on a good pitch they knocked out England in a domineering show that will and must be talked about for agesOn the batting front it was quite an Indian feast of 50plus and under100 vital individual scoresCaptain Virat Kohli slugged it out for a first innings 50 amidst ruins and when it all looked like yet another situation of the Test match being lost on the first day itself 1277 when Rishabh Pant walked back to the pavilion Shardul Thakur made it clear to England that he was there to make it countHis 57 off just 36 balls was entertainment of supreme quality His driving on the up would attract the envy of any toporder batsman and his pull shots proved that he can destroy an attack The first of his half centuries gave the Indian bowlers a total to fancy themselves for a hitbackJasprit Bumrah sent back openers Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed who werenrsquot exactly expected to be around long enough for the opening bowlers to wipe the first beads of sweat off their foreheads But Umesh Yadavrsquos runmdashin which he despatched Joe Root Craig Overton and David Malan in the space of 10 runsmdashwas a message of confirmation to the team management that sitting out of the Test playing XI for more than eight months had not made him rustyThe big blow was struck by Thakur when he crashed the stumps of a wellset Ollie Pope If that was an important scalp there were two more in the second innings when England had every right to believe that they could prevent an Indian victory At 1000 Thakur produced a gem and a faint edge went to wicketkeeper Pant to kick off animated celebrationsThe greatness of this Indian team is that when one barely finishes waxing eloquent on one player another one comes up with a brilliant performance What followed the exit of the openers was Bumrahrsquos spell in which he dismissed Pope and Jonny Bairstow Then came Jadejarsquos effort that sent the second England batsman on his way with a duck against his namemdashthe obdurate Moeen Ali That was before the England captain Root heard the death rattle through an inside edge off Thakur The dismissal of the inform captain literally proved that therersquos no hope for a tree if you uproot it pun intended Yadav cleaned up the tail taking his match tally to sixThe playerofthematch award went to Rohit Sharma for his 127 which helped India put up a massive 466 after the first innings disappointment However there is merit in the debate over whether Thakur should have got the award for his allround show In any case Rohit settling well into the openerrsquos role is great news for India and his maiden Test century abroad means therersquos more to come in overseas conditionsIndian brilliance was written all over in The Oval Test They came back in the series in the most emphatic way and it must be highlighted that both their victories in this series Lordrsquos and The Oval were achieved despite conceding the first innings lead Among other things it showed that a bumpy road is no reason to turn backKohli has deserved all the accolades for his leadership in the Test His tactical decisions field placements and bowling changes were spotonRoot may have scored far more runs as compared to his rival skipper but you donrsquot need a genius to figure out who the better captain is in this seriesIf there is an area in which Kohli has left people perplexed it is the decision to keep Ravichandran Ashwin out of the playing XI Supporters of that call can say that India have won more than they have lost in the ongoing Pataudi Trophy series with this combination and what ultimately matters is the winloss columnThere is no good reason to keep Jadeja out of the playing XI for Manchester and if the winning combination has to be tampered with it could be the exclusion of Ajinkya Rahane To throw the vicecaptain a lifeline or have him sit out for the crucial final Test is a big call to take Not many captains would like to be in Kohlirsquos shoes not even ones who hold the lead in a series Over to Old Trafford Manchestermiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper