Michael Vaughan says India severely missed Virat Kohli’s leadership abilities in the just ended Test series opener against England in Hyderabad.
Despite leading after the first two innings, the hosts lost by 28 runs. According to Vaughan, if Virat Kohli had led the squad, the hosts would not have lost the match.
Here’s what the former England captain stated on the YouTube channel ‘Club Prairie Fire’, implying that skipper Rohit Sharma’s captaincy in the Hyderabad Test fell short:
“They missed Virat Kohli’s captaincy massively in Test cricket. Under Virat’s captaincy that week, India wouldn’t have lost the game. Rohit is a legend and a great player. But I felt he just switched off completely.”
Michael Vaughan
Virat Kohli was originally in India’s team for the first two England series Tests. But, he chose not to play, because of personal stuff.
Rohit Sharma’s team didn’t hit the 231-run goal in the fourth try. They only made 202 runs and were out by Day 4. England’s new left-hand spinner, Tom Hartley, took out seven players in the game.
“Rohit Sharma’s captaincy was very, very average” – Michael Vaughan
In a column for The Telegraph, Michael Vaughan critiqued Rohit Sharma’s leadership in the initial Test against England. He expressed that Sharma was somewhat inactive in making bowling rotations and made some strategic missteps in mapping out his field.
With an impressive 196-run in England’s second innings, Ollie Pope swung the game to his team’s side. Vaughan commented on how Sharma struggled to counteract Pope’s sweep and reverse sweeps, stating:
“In India’s first Test defeat in Hyderabad, I thought Rohit Sharma’s captaincy was very, very average. I thought he was so reactive, I don’t think he manoeuvred his field or was proactive with his bowling changes. And he didn’t have any answer to Ollie Pope’s sweeps or reverse sweeps.”
Michael Vaughan
India and England are set to play the second Test. It’ll happen at Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam. The play dates are February 2 to 6. Currently, England is leading in this five-match series and their score is 1-0.