The Virat Kohli vs Rohit Sharma debate goes on. Former England captain Michael Vaughan feels India would not have lost the opening Test match against England in Hyderabad last week under the captaincy of Virat Kohli. The Rohit Sharma-led hosts, in the absence of the ex-India captain, suffered a forgettable 28-run loss at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, their first-ever defeat at the venue, as England took a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
Scores of 80s from Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja saw India take a 190-run lead in the first innings, but Ollie Pope's magnificent 196 helped England overcome the deficit to set a target of 231. India did get off to a promising start but debutant Tom Hartley picked up a seven-wicket haul to fold India for 202.
This was the first time in 91 years of Test history in India that the home team lost a match after taking a first-innings lead of more than 100 runs. It was also India's third consecutive winless Test at home, having lost to Australia in Indore last year and drawing the Ahmedabad Test.
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In a discussion on the YouTube channel 'Club Prairie Fire', Vaughan was asked if the result in Hyderabad reflected the beginning of a decline for Indian Test cricket at home or whether the hosts missed Kohli and Mohammed Shami. The former England captain picked neither option and instead said India wouldn't have lost the first Test had Kohli been the skipper. Acknowledging the greatness of incumbent captain Rohit, Vaughan felt that he "just switched off".
{{/usCountry}}In a discussion on the YouTube channel 'Club Prairie Fire', Vaughan was asked if the result in Hyderabad reflected the beginning of a decline for Indian Test cricket at home or whether the hosts missed Kohli and Mohammed Shami. The former England captain picked neither option and instead said India wouldn't have lost the first Test had Kohli been the skipper. Acknowledging the greatness of incumbent captain Rohit, Vaughan felt that he "just switched off".
{{/usCountry}}"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," he said.
Vaughan's criticism of Rohit
Vaughan came down hard on Rohit in his his column for The Telegraph as well, last week, saying that he wasn't proactive while leading the side in Hyderabad and rather looked "clueless" as Pope executed his sweeps and reverse-sweeps en route to his record knock.
"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," Vaughan wrote.
India will hope to script a turnaround in the second Test against England which begins on February 2 in Visakhapatnam, hoping to enhance their position in the World Test Championship points table.