Former England captain turned cricket commentator Michael Vaughan reckoned that Team India missed the Virat Kohli's captaincy during the opening Test of the five-match series against England at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
India were stunned by England in the first Test as the hosts suffered 28-run defeat to Ben Stokes-led side. Chasing a 231-run target after bundling out England for 420, India were bowled out for 202 on Day 4 of the Hyderabad Test. Despite 190-run lead in the first innings, India failed to capitalized on it as Ollie Pope's scintillating 196-run innings took England 400-run mark and 200+ runs lead in the second innings.
Speaking on the YouTube Channel 'Club Prairie Fire', Michael Vaughan was asked whether India missed Virat Kohli or Mohammed Shami in the Hyderabad Test. The former England captain felt that the hosts' wouldn't have lost the Test series opener if Kohli was the captain, adding that Rohit Sharma was completely 'switched off'.
"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." Vaughan said (31:40).
Virat Kohli was ruled out of two Tests against England as he returned home due to personal reason. The former India captain is likely to return to action for the third Test in Rajkot. While, Mohammed Shami is yet to completely recover from ankle injury as he was included in India squad for Hyderabad and Vizag Tests. It is uncertain whether Shami would be available for the remaining matches of the five-match series.
India badly miss Virat Kohli - Geoffrey Boycott
Former England captain Geoffrey Boycott felt that India will badly miss the services of Virat Kohli for the second Test against England in Vishakhapatnam, starting on February 2.
In his column for Telegraph, cricketer-turned commentator observed that Rohit Sharma played pretty cameos and than seems to be dull as captain, adding that he has only scored two hit hundreds in the last four years. He also mentioned that Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja will be big misses for Team India in the upcoming Test.
"Their captain Rohit Sharma is nearly 37 and past his best. He makes pretty cameos but has only scored two Test hundreds at home in four years. They are also weak in the field." Boycott wrote.
"This India team is ripe for the taking, and England have a golden chance to be the first side to topple them on their own patch for 12 years. India badly miss Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja has a hamstring injury and will not play the second Test." he added.
India suffered two blows as Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul have been ruled out of the second Test against England due to respective injuries. Sarfaraz Khan, Saurabh Kumar and Washington Sundar were added to the squad.
