'Under Virat Kohli's captaincy, India wouldn't have lost the game': Ex-England captain's no-nonsense verdict on Rohit Sharma

Virat Kohli (L) and Rohit Sharma (R).
Virat Kohli (L) and Rohit Sharma (R).

Highlights:

Rohit Sharma's captaincy in Hyderabad Test against England has been widely scrutinised by ex-cricketers.

India lost the first Test match against England by 28 runs after taking a commanding 190-run lead in first innings.

Since the time India were outclassed by England in the first Test match in Hyderabad, captain Rohit Sharma has been in the firing line with several ex-cricketers highlighting the flaws in the Indian skipper's tactics during the 1st Test. In a fresh dig at Rohit, former England captain and legendary batter, Michael Vaughan shed light on what would have happened if Virat Kohli was still the captain of the Indian Test team. Vaughan strongly believes that India would have won the Hyderabad Test if Kohli was the leader.

"They miss Virat Kohli's captaincy massively in Test cricket. Under Virat's captaincy that week, India wouldn't have lost the game," Vaughan said on Club Prairie Fire show.

"Rohit is a legend and a great player. But I felt he just switched off completely," the former England batter added.

190-run lead goes in vain, Ollie Pope makes Indian bowlers dance to his tunes

How India lost the Test match in Hyderabad was surprising to see. After securing a 190-run lead in the first innings, India handed the ascendancy to England as the bowlers looked toothless against a spirited batting display from Ollie Pope, who played a match-turning knock of 196 runs in the second innings.

As a result, India failed to chase a target of 231 runs in the fourth innings and England came out of Hyderabad with a remarkable 28-run victory.

Michael Vaughan rates Rohit Sharma's captaincy 'very, very average'

Earlier, Vaughan was very critical of Rohit Sharma's captaincy in the Hyderabad Test and rated it as 'very, very average'. The ex-England skipper underlined the lack of proactiveness in Rohit's approach when it came to field placements when Pope was scoring runs at will.

"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," Vaughan wrote in his column for The Telegraph.

"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.

 

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