PremiumIND vs ENG - Was Team India better under Virat Kohli's captaincy? England's great takes a dig at Rohit Sharma after 1st Test loss
Attention had turned towards Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, who came under heavy scrutiny for his leadership skills and many on-field decisions.
Many critics have spoken about Rohit Sharma's captaincy
Last Updated: 10.17 AM, Feb 01, 2024
The five-match series opener between India and England in Hyderabad saw the host nation lose a winning game by 28 runs. With Ben Stokes' team securing the victory, many turned their attention toward Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, who came under heavy scrutiny for his leadership skills and many on-field decisions.
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Among the critics was former England captain Michael Vaughan, who directly took a dig at Rohit's captaincy and even asserted that the Men in Blue would have achieved different results if Virat Kohli were still leading the side. Vaughan's comments follow similar criticisms from several other former cricketers regarding Rohit's captaincy.
It has been years since Rohit Sharma took over the captaincy of all three formats from Kohli. The former India captain was not even part of the first Test, having pulled out just a few days before citing personal reasons. During the testing times of the Hyderabad Test, Rohit did not have Kohli, the chase-master, on his side nor someone to consult for certain on-field decisions, leading to India's defeat.
"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 on the YouTube channel 'Club Prairie Fire',
Earlier, in a column for The Telegraph, Vaughan had called Rohit's captaincy 'very, very average'. "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 had written.
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Talking about Kohli's return, there has been no clarity on whether the player will be part of the Test series after pulling out of the first two games. The second clash will take place at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA International Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam.