Former cricketer Michael Vaughan has pinned the blame on Rohit Sharma for India‘s loss against England in the first Test of the ongoing five-match Test series.
England stunned their fancied hosts by 28 runs to take the lead in the series. The visitors were firmly on the back foot after the first innings and were looking destined to suffer a loss before staging a brilliant comeback to register a memorable win. India had bowled out England for 246 before scoring 436 runs to take a huge lead of 190 runs.
In the second innings, India had reduced England to 163 for 5 but failed to capitalise on the situation. A brilliant knock of 196 runs from Ollie Pope helped England post a big total of 420 runs to set India a target of 231. In reply, the hosts were bowled out for just 202 runs with only Rohit Sharma (39) managing to touch the 30-run mark.
Michael Vaughan blames Rohit Sharma:
With Team India failing to capitalise on their strong position in the series-opener, Michael Vaughan has blamed Rohit Sharma’s captaincy. The defeat was India’s first in 10 Tests in Hyderabad, a streak that began way back in 1955. India also lost a Test at home for the first time after taking a first-innings lead of more than 100 runs.
Michael Vaughan was asked about the loss when he was speaking on Club Prairie Fire podcast. The former England captain was asked if the defeat in Hyderabad reflected the beginning of a decline of Indian Test cricket at home or if the hosts missed Kohli and Mohammed Shami. In reply, Michael Vaughan said:
“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.”
The England great also criticised Rohit Sharma’s captaincy in his column for The Telegraph. The Ashes-winning former captain accused the India captain of not being proactive during the Hyderabad Test and also stated that Rohit looked clueless when Pope was toying with the Indian bowlers.
“I thought Rohit Sharma’s captaincy was very, very average. I thought he was so reactive, I don’t think he maneuvered 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 wrote.
Rohit Sharma and his teammates will be desperate to bounce back and draw level in the series by winning the second Test, scheduled to be played from February 2 in Visakhapatnam.
