England v India: 'Virat Kohli has shot at history - but England can stop him'

Highlights: India crush England with superb bowling display

By Jonathan Agnew
BBC cricket correspondent

Any notion that England could have won the fourth Test against India was for the romantics.

It was so unlikely that they were going to chase 368 in the fourth innings. There is a reason why those targets are so rarely reached.

A draw would have been a good result for England, as India's 157-run win proved.

This is the second time in the series that England have been beaten on the final day.

However, whereas at Lord's the crushing defeat was largely of their own making, they can justifiably say they were beaten by the better side at the Kia Oval.

Similarly, whereas India whipped themselves up to blow England away in the second Test, this win was controlled, disciplined and skilful.

Take the bowling of Jasprit Bumrah, for example. It was an outstanding exhibition of pace and reverse swing.

Pope falls cheaply as England wickets start to tumble

The two wickets he took - Ollie Pope and Jonny Bairstow - really set India on their way and made them believe they could force the victory.

The delivery to Bairstow was absolutely brutal. A batsman might hope he could deal with a yorker like that if he has about 20 to his name, but to get it when you have just arrived at the crease is a nightmare.

Just as England bounced back from their Lord's loss to win the third Test at Emerald Headingley, so too have India turned things around from their defeat in Leeds.

When I put that to captain Virat Kohli on Monday, he had fire in his eyes when he said his team "love being written off".

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Kohli is such an energetic, emotional character. When he goes to bed at night he must be absolutely exhausted because he does everything at 1,000mph.

It is easy to see where India get their vitality from. Kohli is never still for a single moment.

It will therefore be interesting to see how Kohli handles himself during the final Test, as his side go to Emirates Old Trafford with a 2-1 lead and the opportunity for a first series win in the UK since 2007.

It is the chance for Kohli to achieve a success that will define his captaincy.

When India claimed their famous series win in Australia this year, Kohli was not there. He left to be at the birth of his first child after India were hammered in the first Test.

In his absence, a team led by Ajinkya Rahane was rightly praised for what they achieved.

It was Kohli who was in charge when India lost the World Test Championship final to New Zealand in June, and it is Kohli who has stuck out his neck and not picked Ravichandran Ashwin for any Test in this series.

Kohli was very defensive when I asked him about his batting, but it would not surprise me if he goes to Manchester and makes the century that seals the series.

The pressure will be on, so it will be fascinating to see how he Kohli copes.

India have decisions to make - over Rahane's form and the make-up of their pace attack - but the problems largely lie with England.

They spent almost two days in the field in India's second innings at the Oval, with James Anderson and Ollie Robinson putting more miles on the clock after playing in each of the four Tests in this series.

They have bowled the most because they have been England's best bowlers, and captain Joe Root must surely get them to play in the series finale unless there is something seriously wrong.

It is tricky with Anderson, who looked every one of his 39 years during the second innings at the Oval, but Old Trafford is his home ground.

England have to use the three days between matches to patch him up, stick him in the ice bath and wind him up for one last effort with the series on the line.

'That's the game, surely!' - India close in on victory with Root wicket

Whereas Kohli was smouldering after the conclusion of the fourth Test, Root was philosophical.

Sometimes in defeat a beaten captain can be devastated, angry or speechless. Root was none of those, which gives me optimism he can turn his side around.

So often I talk to Root about consistency - can England put in good performance after good performance?

At the Oval they were not able to recreate what they did at Headingley. They dropped catches and let India off the hook when they had a chance to build a big first-innings lead.

Root knows this. His team know what they need to do in order to level the series.

Now it is a matter of going out there and doing it.

Jonathan Agnew was speaking to BBC Sport's Stephan Shemilt.

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