Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes it would not be an easy task for India to register a hat-trick of wins Down Under. Having previously won their last two Test series in Australia, India are looking to once again stun the hosts, however Vaughan has highlighted major differences between the last two occasions and the current day. In expressing his admiration for the former India coach Ravi Shastri, Vaughan said that Indian team benefitted by having someone of his stature at the helm.
Vaughan also attributed the success of previous two series wins in Australia to Virat Kohli as beating Australia in Australia requires the visiting teams to display ruthless aggression, and Virat was able to bring that out.
India registered their first Test series win in Australia in 2018-19 under the leadership of Virat Kohli. The right-handed batter then also captained India in the first Test of the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, however, he returned to India as he along with his wife Anushka Sharma were expecting the birth of their first child. In his place of Kohli, it was the then vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane, who led India to a famous 2-1 series win.
“The last two times they’ve come here, they’ve won, and they’ve had a charismatic coach (in Ravi). They’ve had a captain in Virat Kohli. I’m a big believer (that) when you play Australia, there’s only one way to play them (and) that’s being on the front foot, being aggressive and trying to ruffle a few feathers,” Vaughan said at a promotional event on Tuesday.
“Ravi could do it. Virat could do it. I want to know in this Indian camp, who’s the Ravi Shastri? I don’t think there can be another one, but who’s going to be the Virat Kohli?” he added.
‘Big challenge for India’
Vaughan also believes that the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy will be a huge challenge for Rohit Sharma as captain. It is important to mention that the Indian skipper will be missing the first Test as he and his wife Ritika Sajdeh recently welcomed their second child, a baby boy.
Rohit Sharma has decided to spend some time with his family and newborn. However, he is expected to arrive in Australia in time for the second Test in Adelaide, which is going to be a day-night contest. In place of Rohit, Jasprit Bumrah will be leading India in the first Test.
“Can Rohit arrive and kind of captain in a similar sense? I think that’s going to be the big challenge for India over the course of the next few weeks,” said Vaughan.
The India-Australia five-Test series gets underway on November 22 in Perth. After the first match, there would be a gap of 10 days before the start of the second Test in Adelaide.
