Magnificent win

Sir — The manner in which India beat England by 157 runs at The Oval in the fourth Test match of the ongoing series must be lauded (“Captain takes pride in team’s character”, Sep 7). As a result of this victory, India has now taken a 2-1 lead in the five-match series. Every single day of the match was spectacular. The scintillating performance of the Indian bowling unit restricted the runs made by the English batsmen in their first innings; at the same time, the England pacers made the most of the situation as well. In this crucial match, the assertive thinking of the captain, Virat Kohli, inspired his team-mates. Rohit Sharma’s swashbuckling innings of 127 runs — he made his first overseas Test century — put India in a strong position. Adding to this were the performances of Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur, who cemented our victory by a wide margin. Sharma was adjudged the Player of the Match for scoring 138 runs overall. If India can keep up this performance, it will win the Pataudi Trophy.

Jayanta Datta,
Hooghly

Sir — Virat Kohli and his team must be congratulated for their remarkable comeback at The Oval after being crushed in the third Test at Headingley. The match that concluded on Monday was a display of teamwork — everyone, with the exception of Ajinkya Rahane, chipped in on their way to script the historic victory. Rohit Sharma’s patient century and the healthy opening partnership of 83 runs in the second innings laid a firm foundation for India to score a mammoth total of 466. Later on, the 100-run partnership between Shardul Thakur and Rishabh Pant took the wind out of the sails of Joe Root and his men.

After setting a stiff target of 368, the Indian bowlers took over. They worked in tandem to decimate the English batting line-up, that too on a flat, docile wicket that was favouring batsmen. This victory should definitely boost the morale of Team India to go in for the kill in the final Test at Manchester.

Although Kohli might be tempted to play the final Test with the winning combination from the fourth match, I believe that Rahane ought to be rested. In his place, Kohli could either take a batsman or even finally pick Ravichandran Ashwin who, apart from his bowling heroics, is capable of scoring at least 50 runs in a Test.

It was unfortunate that the head coach of Team India, Ravi Shastri, tested positive for Covid-19 and has been isolated along with three other members of the support staff. However, when the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Jay Shah, reportedly wrote to every team member before the series asking them to be cautious and refrain from attending crowded events, why did the head coach attend the launch of his book — even Kohli went to the event — at the team’s hotel? The BCCI is likely to ask Kohli and Shastri for an explanation. One hopes that appropriate action will be taken.

N. Mahadevan,
Chennai

Sir — History repeated itself after 50 years at The Oval with India winning the thrilling fourth Test against England with 157 runs. The victory can be attributed to the unprecedented century of Rohit Sharma and the phenomenal bowling of Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah. This match did not merely create history but also witnessed the making and breaking of records: Virat Kohli became the fastest player to cross 23,000 runs and Bumrah became the fastest Indian pacer to take 100 Test wickets. Indians ought to be proud of this team.

Md. Yousuf Kamal,
Muzaffarpur, Bihar

Sir — After a dramatic fifth-day finish at The Oval, India ended its 50-year wait for a win at the venue with a 157-run victory against England on Monday. The last time that India won at the iconic cricket ground was way back in 1971 when, under the leadership of Ajit Wadekar, it stunned the hosts by beating them by four wickets to clinch its first series triumph in England. India first played at The Oval — the oldest international stadium in England — in 1936 and lost the Test by nine wickets. India has drawn a Test at the venue on seven occasions in 1946, 1952, 1979, 1982, 1990, 2002 and 2007. It had also lost on its three previous tours in 2011, 2014 and 2018.

Virat Kohli’s men went into the fourth Test on the back of a crushing innings defeat at Headingley. Put in to bat by England, India were all out for 191. England took a 99-run lead on Day Two before Rohit Sharma’s magnificent century put India back in the contest. His 127 was aided by Cheteshwar Pujara’s 61 and Kohli’s 44 before a lower-order surge from Rishabh Pant (50) and Shardul Thakur (60) helped the visitors set a 368-run target.

England began the final day needing 291 to win with the openers, Haseeb Hameed and Rory Burns, at the crease. However, India chipped away at England on a flat wicket to wrap up a convincing win and take a 2-1 lead in the series. The team truly outplayed England in every department of the game.

Bhagwan Thadani,
Mumbai

Hammer blow

Sir — The totalitarian actions of the Chinese government seem to know no bounds. After banning children from playing video games on weekdays and restricting their access to the activity to just three hours on weekends, Xi Jinping’s regime has now targeted “effeminate men” and all things “overly entertaining” in the entertainment industry. While the propaganda department of the Communist Party of China accused some figures in the industry of having a ‘bad influence’ on young people, this crackdown amounts to more than just an impingement on the freedom of expression; it is a direct, bigoted attack on arts and culture. Does the Chinese government want to mirror the Taliban in its actions?

Debalina S. Roy,
Calcutta