India, under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy, faced a 28-run defeat in Hyderabad, marking their first-ever Test loss at the venue. Michael Vaughan, a former England captain, expressed his belief that India would not have lost under Virat Kohli’s leadership.
The Rohit Sharma-led team struggled, resulting in a forgettable loss, giving England a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
India had a promising start with 80s from Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, and Ravindra Jadeja, leading to a 190-run first-innings lead.
However, Ollie Pope’s remarkable 196 helped England overcome the deficit, setting a target of 231. Debutant spinner Tom Hartley’s seven-wicket haul folded India for 202 runs.
This defeat marked the first time in 91 years of Indian Test history that they lost a match after taking a first-innings lead of over 100 runs.
It also extended India’s streak of winless Test matches at home to three, following a loss to Australia in Indore and a draw in Ahmedabad.
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Discussing the match on the YouTube channel ‘Club Prairie Fire,’ Vaughan dismissed the idea that India’s decline at home began or that they missed Virat Kohli and Mohammed Shami. Instead, he attributed the loss to Rohit Sharma’s captaincy. Vaughan praised Rohit’s cricketing prowess but felt he “just switched off” during the match.
Vaughan criticized Rohit Sharma’s captaincy in his column for The Telegraph, describing it as “very, very average.” He pointed out Rohit Sharma’s reactive approach, lack of proactive field maneuvers, and an inability to counter Ollie Pope’s sweeps and reverse-sweeps. Vaughan stated that Rohit seemed “clueless” as Pope executed his record-breaking innings.
As India prepares for the second Test against England starting on February 2 in Visakhapatnam, they aim to turn the tide and overcome the challenges faced in the opening match.
The absence of Virat Kohli’s captaincy remains a talking point, with the team eager to bounce back under Rohit’s leadership.
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