Former England captain Michael Vaughan thinks Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant will have to step up to lead the Indian Test team now that Virat Kohli, who carried the team on his back, is gone.
Vaughan told PTI in an interview that the Indian batting looks fine without Kohli and Rohit Sharma, based on the Test series against England so far. But he also said that a good start doesn’t mean mission accomplished.
He said Gill, Jaiswal and Pant now have to push the Indian Test team forward the way Kohli did. He sees a bunch of them who play the game the right way and have a real chance to create a lasting legacy like Kohli did for the Indian Test team. If they can bring even half of the same energy and help the team stay on top for a long time, they will have done well.
Kohli and Rohit retired from Test cricket before the England tour. Vaughan said India will always have talent but it will be hard to replace the kind of aura Kohli had.
Vaughan said the team can’t just move on after two legends have retired. He thinks Shubman has had a great start as captain and player and he is a wonderful player. He doesn’t think the team will struggle too much with batting.
He added it’s the competitive energy Virat brought to the Test team, the buzz and intensity that’s needed that will be missed. He also said Kohli was very good tactically and Shubman can improve in that area as captain over time.
Vaughan expects India to be a dominant Test team given the depth of talent and resources they have. He said they haven’t achieved that yet despite reaching two WTC (World Test Championship) finals in three cycles.
He said he wouldn’t worry about the Test team if he was India as they will always produce a very competitive team. He would want the Test team to be more consistent in every area they play.
Like many others, Vaughan is confused why Jasprit Bumrah, the team’s best fast bowler, was left out of the second Test and spinner Kuldeep Yadav who has not played in the series yet.He doesn’t agree with that. Why not play your best bowler after 7 days off? Why not play Kuldeep? Why bowl first?
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He disagreed with that, saying he doesn’t get why they wouldn’t play their best bowler after 7 days off or why Kuldeep wasn’t included. He also said he doesn’t get why India chose to bowl first
He said he doesn’t get why they wouldn’t want Kuldeep in the Test team, since a leg spinner should have a say in a 5 day Test. He said Kuldeep’s record against England is amazing and he would play him more if he was in the Indian Test team
Vaughan said the way to beat two spinners is to get runs on the board and hope the pitch gets worse. He said Headingley should be looked at in that light. He said India would have won if they had taken the chances. Vaughan has said England will win the series as they haven’t lost a 5 match series at home since 2001.
