‘They really miss Virat Kohli’s captaincy in Test cricket’ – Michael Vaughan makes bold statement after India’s loss in first Test against England

Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes England would not have been able to stage a comeback in the first Test against India in Hyderabad if India were under Virat Kohli’s leadership. Vaughan questioned Rohit Sharma’s tactics and body language in the series opener, in which the highly regarded Indian squad suffered a surprise defeat.

In the first test at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, India had the upper hand as England were all out at just 246 runs in the first innings India took 190 runs lead. In the second innings, the game changed as Ollie Pope started to attack Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja with reverse sweeps. With Ollie Pope’s hitting 196 runs England scored 420 and set the target of 231 runs for India to chase.

Rohit Sharma‘s leadership, especially when Ollie Pope was creating partnerships with the lower-order batsmen, came under the spotlight as India appeared flat on Day 3 and Day 4 of the first Test.

“They really miss Virat Kohli’s captaincy in Test cricket. Under Virat’s captaincy that week, India would not have lost the game,” Vaughan stated on Club Prairie Fire.

“Rohit is a legend and an excellent player. But I thought he simply turned off entirely,” the former England batsman continued.

Injury concerns for the Indian Team ahead of the 2nd Test match against England

For the first time, India has lost a Test match at home after having a 100-plus lead in the first innings. Notably, no opposing side achieved more than 400 runs in their second innings of a Test match in India under Virat Kohli’s leadership.

In 2022, Kohli decided to step down as India’s Test captain following the India tour to South Africa. It came as a surprise because the previous captain had achieved remarkable success in red-ball cricket. Throughout his tenure as Indian captain Virat has lost only two home test games having played 31. On the other hand, Rohit Sharma has already lost two in seven matches. For the first time in 12 Tests, India has gone three matches without a win at home.

Both the teams are getting ready for the 2nd Test match in Vizag. India has faced a major setback as KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja will not be available for the Test match due to injury.