Rohit Sharma Just Switched Off Completely, India Wouldn't Have Lost 1st Test Under Virat Kohli's Captaincy: Michael Vaughan

Former England captain Michael Vaughan made a bold claim that India wouldn’t have lost the first Test match in Hyderabad if Virat Kohli was the captain of the side. Rohit Sharma’s defensive captaincy in Test cricket once again came under the scanners after defeat in the series opener against England.

It was India’s fourth Test defeat at home in the past decade as England outclassed the host courtesy of a brilliant 196-run knock and a sensational spell by debutant Tom Hartley on Day 4 where he picked a seven-wicket haul.

Vaughan said that India missed Kohli’s captaincy in the red-ball cricket while commenting that Rohit, who is a great player, switched off during the first Test when the hosts had a chance to strengthen the grip.

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“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 in a discussion on the YouTube channel ‘Club Prairie Fire’

Meanwhile, Kohli, former India skipper, has pulled himself out of the first two Tests against England owing to personal reasons. The BCCI has not disclosed the reason behind the absence and urged fans to refrain from anticipating the reason.Vaughan also criticised Rohit’s captaincy in his column for The Telegraph where he called his captaincy 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 wrote.

Indian spinners led by Ravichandran Ashwin came under attack by the opposition’s fearless approach led by Ollie Pope’s 196, an innings built around sweeps and reverse sweeps. Meanwhile, Rohit looked a bit clueless as a captain when Pope was counter-attacking the Indian spinners and helped India take the 230-run lead which turned out to be too much for the Asian Giants.