IND vs ENG 2021: Michael Vaughan rubbishes blame on The Hundred for England's disastrous outing with the bat

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has rubbished the claim that The Hundred is responsible for the disastrous performance of England's batters on the opening day of the first Test against India. He opined that the players were just not good enough to handle the heat.

After winning the toss and batting first at Trent Bridge, the home side were rolled over by the Indian seamers an hour into the final session. The top-order showed some resistance, but the middle-order could not handle the moving ball as the hosts crumbled from 138/3 to 183/10.

Michael Vaughan doesn’t feel that the lack of red-ball preparation could have led to this abysmal performance.

“England get bowled out … Blame the 100 seems to be the excuse !!!! Utter rubbish … No one mentioned blaming the 100 when they were bowled out against NZ after weeks of county cricket prep … its such an easy excuse … what about players maybe not being good enough ?” Vaughan tweeted.

This is the third score of less than 200 for England in the home season. They got dismissed for 170 and 122 in the second innings of the two Test matches against New Zealand.

The whole batting unit of the current side were part of The Hundred and have had little red-ball exposure after the home series against New Zealand in June. Critics have been quite vocal in blaming this lack of preparation for a sub-par performance with the bat against India.

England get bowled out … Blame the 100 seems to be the excuse !!!! Utter rubbish … No one mentioned blaming the 100 when they were bowled out against NZ after weeks of county cricket prep … its such an easy excuse … what about players maybe not being good enough ? #ENGvsIND

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) August 4, 2021

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England bowlers have a tough task ahead

Early wickets will be key for England on Day 2

The onus is now on the England pacers to bring the side back into the game after the batters failed to put up a reasonable total on the board.

The Indian openers had 13 overs to negotiate in the last session of play on Day 1 and they managed to get through it unscathed. The seamers will try to make some inroads into the Indian top-order early on Day 2 while the ball is still new.

Catch the score and live commentary of the match right here!

We are bowled out for 183.Scorecard/Clips: https://t.co/fRI1UZ9T0A🏴 #ENGvIND 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/1RrzvJnvMv

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 4, 2021