Singled out by Virat Kohli, Ollie Robinson is becoming England's metronome

NICK FRIEND: In anyone’s book, 23 wickets at 17.65 represents good business. Yesterday was his second dismissal of Kohli and the fourth time he had seen off Rishabh Pant

Virat Kohli praised Ollie Robinson, describing the England bowler as “a real find” after the Sussex seamer’s five-wicket haul on the fourth day at Headingley levelled the series and ensured the India captain’s wait for a 28th Test century goes on.

He was unbeaten on 55 when Robinson enticed him to poke at a delivery that straightened just outside his off-stump, edging to slip where Joe Root gratefully accepted the opportunity.

It came only a matter of minutes after the fast bowler – playing in just his fourth Test – had fooled Cheteshwar Pujara with a full ball that swung in prodigiously and thudded into his pads as he played no shot. It confused umpire Richard Kettleborough as well, only for England to successfully review his not-out verdict.

In the space of two pieces of action, he had displayed the nuances and diversity of his threat: one beaten by the in-ducker through the air, the other by one that held its line off the pitch. Robinson has spoken openly of his admiration for Josh Hazlewood, with whom he has played in grade cricket, and Glenn McGrath, an idol growing up. There is plenty of both in his approach to the crease and subsequent gather.

“Wherever you are in the world, no matter what pace you are, if you don’t miss the top of off and can move it both ways a little bit, you’re going to be successful, I think,” he told The Cricketer last year of a straightforward philosophy full of merit.

That simplicity was drilled into him when he joined Sussex ahead of the 2015 season; another Australian Steve Magoffin, was spearheading the county’s attack at the time and his own game swore by that mantra, while Jason Gillespie, who became Robinson’s head coach, similarly pushed that method as a former teammate of McGrath.

^{Robinson was named player of the match at Headingley for overall figures of 7 for 81}

It perhaps should come as little surprise then that he has been able to carry over his numbers in county cricket – he has 275 first-class wickets for Sussex at 20.74 apiece – onto the international stage. While many arrive in the Test arena with question marks around their capacity to step up, Robinson seems different in that regard. Quite simply, there didn’t appear to be much doubt in his ability to do what he has done since: a skilful, relentless metronome, and the leading wicket-taker in the series, having bowled more balls than anyone else on either side.

In anyone’s book, 23 wickets at 17.65 represents good business. Yesterday was the second time he had dismissed Kohli; he has Rishabh Pant on four occasions in three games, Rohit Sharma twice, and then Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, Devon Conway, Tom Latham, Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson once each. It’s not a bad list. Much like in the county game, you are rarely far from a Robinson victim, where it is one thing to know his plans but another to stop them.

He explained yesterday: “My strength is consistency. It’s something I look at with the analyst and the bowling coach, Jon Lewis, every day after I bowl. I see how I've bowled and check my lines and lengths. If I can be as consistent as possible, not go for runs and build the pressure, then hopefully I'll get wickets with that.”

Kohli added: “He understands his skills really well, understands angles, swings the ball both ways, very consistent and especially in these conditions.”

If that final clause was thrown in as a challenge, then Robinson is ahead of him. There haven’t been many England bowlers who have relished the limitations of the Kookaburra, but Robinson might just be an exception. He has learnt during stints in Australia of how best to exploit its limited shelf life and how to maximise any movement once the ball goes soft.

“Out in Australia, I think it made me realise that you have to be that much more precise with everything,” he said last year. “In England, you might bowl the odd half-volley and get away with it sometimes with the Dukes ball.”

^{Robinson's dismissal of Kohli sparked wild celebrations}

Robinson spent the first half of the pre-pandemic winter working with the Kookaburra in Potchefstroom with Mark Wood and James Anderson – a reminder that although Robinson’s Test bow has come this summer, he has long been viewed as an inevitability on England’s radar.

“From November I’d been bowling with the Kookaburra, practising ways to get the ball moving. I knew I could do it in the nets and in the indoor school against a few of our lads. So, I had some confidence going in, which I think is massive when you’re going to a different country.

“If you have confidence with the ball you’re using – I knew that with my height and the hard pitches out there that I’d get some good bounce, it was a big asset for me.”

And with injuries mounting up around him – although Chris Silverwood was positive on Sunday about the prospect of returns for Wood and Chris Woakes before this current series is over – his value on this winter’s Ashes trip might just be in the process of rising beyond even Robinson’s own expectations.

Ruthless England put finishing touches to near-perfect performance

“Not off the top of my head,” admitted Root when asked on Saturday if he could recall an introduction to Test cricket quite so assured.

“It’s been phenomenal to watch him perform as he has. The Test matches he’s played, he’s had big influences on all of them. He’s been around the squad for a little while and we’ve known how skilful he is.

“It was almost a question of whether he’d be able to back it up in his third spell with the ball a little older. And he’s shown huge skill in being able to do that time and time again with big workloads under his belt. He’s shown what he is capable of doing and long may that continue.”