Former England captain Michael Vaughan on Wednesday said he was left with egg on his face after his prediction of an Australian whitewash of India in the just-concluded Test series went horribly wrong.
Vaughan had earlier predicted that India will be whitewashed 4-0 in the Test series after the visitors lost the first Test in Adelaide by eight wickets following a dramatic collapse where they were bowled out for their lowest-ever Test score of 36.
However, a battered and bruised India recovered from that loss and on Tuesday claimed a three wicket win in the fourth Test at the Gabba to win the series 2-1.
“India looked shot after that match and with all the selection issues they had, even India's most one-eyed fans would not have predicted a comeback. Well, they have left me with egg on my face,” Vaughan wrote in Daily Telegraph .
“But honestly? I don’t care. When you have cricket that good, and remarkable performances from rookie players such as Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur, I have no problem in being proved wrong.”
Plagued by a series of injuries, India were left without their star players like Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the final Test which saw some incredible performances from rookies like Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar, T. Natarajan, Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj.
Young wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant anchored the chase, while experienced campaigner Cheteshwar Pujara held the innings together.
Vaughan also said “there is something not quite right with Australia at the moment.”
“The batting – aside from Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne – has a soft centre, the pace bowling attack, rightly hailed as being the world's best a few weeks ago, lacked penetration at crucial moments in the last three Tests against India, and Nathan Lyon had no impact at all,” Vaughan was also critical of Tim Paine’s captaincy.
“It will not help Paine’s cause that Australia have once again lost a close game – something they have made a habit of in recent years,” he wrote. “I always feel that captains should be judged on how they marshal a tight match, rather than how they lead in an easy victory, and Paine is making some strange calls.”
Published - January 21, 2021 10:45 am IST
