England vs India, 5th Test, Day 4: 5 Talking Points

England are in complete command of the fifth and final Test at The Oval after reducing India to 58 for 3 which followed the massive run feast that saw Alastair Cook make his final Test match hundred.

Starting the day at 114 for 2, Cook and Joe Root put the Indian bowling to the sword, eventually reach both their respective hundreds and the visitors soon began to feel like they never belonged in the contest.

Set an improbable 464 runs to win, India found themselves in early trouble at 2 for 3 before a 56-run unbeaten stand between KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane calmed the nerves of everybody watching.

Here are the talking points from the day:

Alastair Cook bows out on a high

You may or may not like him, but as he goes to bed this evening, Alastair Cook will be a content man. Playing his final international innings, the left-hander amassed 147 against his name to join an elite list of players to have made a century in their first and last Test matches.

It was an emotional day for everybody present at the venue as they bid farewell to arguably their greatest ever batsman and there's no doubting the fact that Cook leaves a void which will be extremely hard to fill in the coming days.

Joe Root comes good with the bat

The Root the public wished to see right through the summer was on show on Monday

While the large part of the focus for the entire day was on Cook, at the other end Joe Root was playing his part to perfection as well and after a long time, we saw the batsman we so wished to see right through the series as Root brought out his free-flowing game and amassed his first century in over a year which helped set up the platform for his side.

The anti-climactic end to a titanic series for Virat Kohli

Kohli fell without troubling the scorers on Monday

Kohli came into the Test series as a batsman whose credentials were questioned as far as numbers in England were concerned. He leaves the tour, however, with few doubters after having amassed nearly 600 runs in the series.

The end, though, was anti-climactic as Kohli was dismissed for a first-ball duck in the second innings. That, however, was just a minor blip in an otherwise colossal series with the bat for the right-hander.

Anderson equals McGrath

Anderson equaled McGrath on Monday

15 years ago, a young man stepped onto the field and rattled Zimbabwe at Lord's. Since that game, James Anderson has gone to achieve many things in the game but the greatest perhaps came on Monday when he equaled Glenn McGrath's tally of 563 Test wickets.

McGrath himself said earlier that if Anderson went past him, he didn't see anyone get close to the mark and one would have to think he isn't wrong.

Will India show the gumption to survive on the last day?

Can Rahul and co. help India save the Oval Test?

A tour which began with matches in Ireland at the end of June will culminate on Tuesday and as India prepare to pack their bags, they will have just one task ahead of them which will be to show to themselves that they can survive. That this current crop can bat out a day

It will be tough going against some skillful bowlers, but if Rahul, Rahane and others can show the gumption required and help India save the game, that would have surely ensured that they finish the tour on a positive note.