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Rohit Sharma’s captaincy was tested when Ollie Pope brought England back into the game with his 196-run knock. Pope had answers to India’s spin trio. He employed sweeps and reverse sweeps to score boundaries and keep the scoreboard ticking. After England’s 28-run win over India to take a 1-0 lead in the five-Test series, former England captain Michael Vaughan has called Rohit’s captaincy ‘very average’ for making it too easy for Pope.
"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 in his column for The Telegraph.
Pope got bowled by Jasprit Bumrah playing a reverse sweep when he was on 196 but till then the damage had been done. He had helped England set a target of 231.
Vaughan gave legendary Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne's example and explained how changes in the field could have helped him counter Pope.
"The greatest spinner I've seen, Shane Warne, would go around the wicket and get the player to sweep the leg side and say good luck trying to do that. I didn't see that any of that from India.
"It was just all too easy. The way that England play, they will always score boundaries. And by spreading the field, Sharma was basically saying that his bowlers' best balls would still go for one," he added.
Pope was adjudged 'Player of the match' for his magnificent knock. Captain Stokes even declared it as the best knock by an England batter in the subcontinent.
In the post-match presentation, Pope went on to call sweep and reverse sweep as safe as defensive shots.
"It could be as safe as defence, playing a reverse sweep or a sweep. Then it is also going to lead to more half-volleys too from the bowlers," he said.
However, he revealed that a lot of work behind the scenes went into perfecting these shots.
"We put in all that work in Abu Dhabi. I think that's probably allowed us to come back from that big deficit. That's exactly what we want to do as a team. We'll keep doing it hopefully in the future," he added.
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