"They missed Virat Kohli's captaincy" - Michael Vaughan unimpressed by Rohit Sharma's leadership in Hyderabad Test vs England

Michael Vaughan believes that India greatly missed Virat Kohli's leadership skills in the recently concluded Test series opener against England in Hyderabad.

The hosts slumped to a 28-run defeat, despite being on top after the completion of the first two innings of the game. Vaughan opined that the hosts would not have lost the contest had Kohli been at the helm of the team.

Suggesting that skipper Rohit Sharma's captaincy was not up to the mark in the Hyderabad Test, here's what the former England captain said on the YouTube channel 'Club Prairie Fire':

"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."

While Virat Kohli was initially named in India's squad for the first two Tests of the series against England, he later opted out of the matches, citing personal reasons.

Rohit Sharma and Co. failed to chase down a 231-run target in the fourth innings, getting bowled out for 202 on Day 4. England's debutant left-arm spinner Tom Hartley bagged a seven-wicket haul in the innings.

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"Rohit Sharma’s captaincy was very, very average" - Michael Vaughan

Michael Vaughan had also slammed Rohit Sharma's captaincy in the first Test against England in his column for The Telegraph. He suggested that Sharma was not very proactive with his bowling changes and also made a few tactical errors in terms of his field placements.

Ollie Pope shifted the momentum in his team's favour with an awe-inspiring 196-run knock in England's second innings. Mentioning how Sharma failed to counter the batter's sweep and reverse sweeps, Vaughan wrote:

"In India's first Test defeat in Hyderabad, I thought Rohit Sharma’s captaincy was very, very average. I thought he was so reactive, I don’t think he manoeuvred his field or was proactive with his bowling changes. And he didn’t have any answer to Ollie Pope’s sweeps or reverse sweeps."

The second Test between India and England will be played at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam from February 2 to 6. England lead the five-match series 1-0.