Michael Vaughan, former England captain urged the team to drop Zak Crawley and Dom Sibley for the second Test against India, preferring Haseeb Hameed and Dawid Malan.
Zak Crawley managed only 6 while Dom Sibley made 28, the duo extending their poor form. England got to 303 in their second innings thanks to a century from Joe Root, and India needs 157 more runs on the final day with nine wickets in hand.
Michael Vaughan: Zak Crawley could Be A High-Class Test Player But He Hasn’t Scored Enough Runs
Zak Crawley scored 27 while Dom Sibley scored 18 in the first innings. Zak Crawley scored only 6 and Dom Sibley scored only 28 playing as many as 133 balls in the 2nd innings. It is perhaps hard to single out just one member of England’s top order who is in need of discovering some form but Zak Crawley must have felt himself near the top of that list, averaging below 15 in Tests since his extraordinary 267 against Pakistan last summer.
Dom Sibley’s average hasn’t been above 35 in any of the series against Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, and New Zealand.
“Zak Crawley could be a high-class Test match player but he’s not got enough runs,” Michael Vaughan told BBC Test Match Special. “I wouldn’t play Crawley at Lord’s but he could well go to Australia.”
“He could suit going out of this environment for a while, play some different formats, iron out his technique. It could refresh him. Dom Sibley has done enough to stay in the side but you wonder how much further he can progress. He just can’t go up through the gears and the bowlers are able to control him,”said Michael Vaughan.
“I would bring Haseeb Hameed in for Zak Crawley. I’d also bring Dawid Malan in but he’s clearly not in England’s Test plans. Dan Lawrence has the ability to hit some high-quality shots but you certainly wouldn’t mind bowling to him early on in his innings with that technique,”said Michael Vaughan.
Zak Crawley is having a poor run as he averaged a mere 8.75 against Sri Lanka, 16.75 against India, and 5.25 against New Zealand, and 16.5 against India in the ongoing Test series, but is still being persisted with.
Haseeb Hameed has played only 3 Tests way back in November 2016 against India where he managed 219 runs averaging 43.8. Dawid Malan has played 15 Tests averaging a below-par 27.85 with the last Test coming in 2018 at Edgbaston against India.
Dawid Malan, however, sits atop the official T20I rankings with a comfortable lead. His numbers justify this ranking on a numerical basis – in just 27 innings, he has scored 1090 runs at an average of 47.39. He’s also crossed 50 twelve times, which shows his consistency is the main reason for his prolific run-scoring.
Michael Vaughan Terms Joe Root’s 21st Test Ton As Pure
Michael Vaughan hailed Joe Root, saying the century was ‘just pure’. Joe Root has always performed against India in Test cricket. He has played 21 matches against India in which he has scored 1962 runs at an average of 56.06 with 6 hundred. He also completed his 1000 runs in 2021 in the longest format of the game.
“That was a wonderful day of Test cricket. That hundred from Joe Root – we’ve seen him play plenty of magnificent innings but that was just pure. Those cover drives, the late cuts, the way he played the spinners and Ravindra Jadeja, it was fantastic.
“He would never admit it but he does carry this batting line-up. And it means he’s not always at his smiley, chirpy best. But he was back there today and it’s exactly what you want to see,”said Michael Vaughan.
“When Joe Root is smiling, no matter the situation of the game, that’s when he’s at his best and it’s a great example to all young players. Joe Root is the sole batter in the team who you feel is of the highest class in Tests. How he can produce that quality under pressure is because he’s got confidence in his technique. He didn’t go for that chase against New Zealand because he wasn’t sure of his technique so didn’t want to take the risk.”
“But his technique looked so more assured today, he knew exactly what he was doing and that meant he could be positive. From where England were two days ago to where they are now, they have a glimmer of hope of winning because of their captain,”said Michael Vaughan.
After bundling out England for a meagre 183, India rode on KL Rahul’s classy 84 and Ravindra Jadeja’s 56 to score 278 and take a valuable 95-run first-innings lead. Despite skipper Joe Root’s stroke-filled 109, England was bowled out for 303 in their second innings, giving India a 209-run target to chase. At stumps on the fourth day, India was 52 for 1, needing 157 more runs to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match Test series.