India are truly under cosh with injuries piling up and already 1-0 down in the five-match series against Ben Stokes-led England. Former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan has sparked captaincy conversation by stating that the home team wouldn't have lost the Test if their skipper was Virat Kohli. The Rohit Sharma-led team, with the absence of Kohli, lost by 28 runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, their first-ever defeat at the venue. (Streaming | More Cricket News)
Despite losing the toss, India were in the strong position going throughout the Test match as they took a 190-run lead thanks to contributions from Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja but Ollie Pope's 196 helped the visitors cut the deficit and set a target of 231.
Despite a strong start, the hosts were bowled out for 202 with spinner Tom Hartley scalping seven wickets in the second innings.
It was for the first time in India's 91 year Test history that they lost a match despite taking a first-onnings lead of more than 100 runs.
In a discussion on podcast 'Club Prairie Fire' Vaughan was asked by the hosts whether India are on a decline in Test cricket at home or if they missed Kohli and Mohammed Shami. Vaughan picked neither and instead said that if Kohli was the skipper, they would not have lost the 1st Test.
"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.
Vaughan had also some 'harsh words' for Rohit in his column for The Telegraph stating that India looked 'clueless' as Pope played sweeps and reverse-sweeps in his sensational innings of 196.
“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.
India play England in the second Test starting February 2 in Visakhapatnam.
