Indian cricket team skipper Rohit Sharma continues to be a target for critics after the team’s loss against England in the opening match of the 5-Test series in Hyderabad. India were undone by Ben Stokes’ men, with Rohit’s leadership skills being blamed for many on-field decisions. Former England captain Michael Vaughan, taking a direct swipe at Rohit’s captaincy, asserted that the Indians wouldn’t have lost the series opener if Kohli was still leading the team. Vaughan’s comments come in after several other former cricketers have also criticised Rohit’s captaincy.
While Rohit is leading the Indian team in all three formats of the game, Kohli wasn’t even a part of the playing XI for India’s first Test against England in Hyderabad. The star batter pulled out only a couple of days before the start of the series due to a personal reason.
In testing times during the Hyderabad Test, Rohit didn’t have Virat to consult certain on-field decisions with while India suffered due to the latter’s absence as a batter too.
“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.
Earlier, in a column for The Telegraph, Vaughan branded Rohit’s captaincy ‘very, very average’, questioning his field setting, bowling changes, and decision-making on the field.
“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.
Kohli wouldn’t be with the Indian team for the second Test against England too, and there’s no clarity on his return before the third match of the series.