Following India’s defeat to England in the first Test, former England Geoffrey Boycott has criticised Rohit Sharma’s leadership and said that India missed Virat Kohli in the Hydrebad game.
The Indian team found themselves in a strong position with a huge first-innings lead but managed to find a way to lose the game as England fought back and won the match by 28 runs.
In the absence of Virat Kohli who has been ruled out of the first two Test matches due to personal reasons, the onus was on Rohit Sharma to lead the charge but the Indian skipper failed to do so with meagre scores of 24 and 39 runs.
And now, Geoffrey Boycott has lashed out at Rohit Sharma in his column for The Daily Telegraph saying that “India badly miss Virat Kohli Ravindra Jadeja is injured and will not play the second Test. Their captain Rohit Sharma is almost 37 years old and has passed his best. He often plays impressive short innings but has only managed to score two Test centuries in four years at home.” Boycott also added that “England have a golden opportunity to become the first team to beat India on home soil in 12 years.”.
While Boycott is spot on about the fact that India misses Kohli, criticising Rohit Sharma’s leadership might be a bit premature. Sharma led India to the final of the final of the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup and led by example along the way. Following the defeat to England in the first Test, one can expect India to come back strong in the remainder of the series starting with the second Test match in Vizag on February 2.
