IND vs ENG 2024: “I was pulling my hair out watching Ben Stokes’ captaincy of Tom Hartley in the first innings” – Michael Vaughan

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan admitted he was surprised to note Ben Stokes’ captaincy in the first innings when the England captain continued backing debutant Tom Hartley despite being expensive. Hartley was given a harsh welcome to Test cricket as he was taken to the cleaners by Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal.

The left-arm orthodox spinner was expensive in his opening spell but Ben Stokes continued giving him the ball. In the end, Hartley was taken for 131 runs in the 25 overs he bowled in the first innings.

However, Hartley was able to stand tall to his captain’s faith in the second innings as he registered figures of 7-62 in the second innings. Hartley registered fourth-best figures by a visiting bowler in India as a debutant.

In his column for the Telegraph, Michael Vaughan wrote, “I was pulling my hair out watching Ben Stokes’s captaincy of Tom Hartley in the first innings. I couldn’t believe it. But this is a captain completely committed to his players. It was a complete out-of-the-box selection. And it’s been utterly vindicated.”

Vaughan hailed the duo of Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes for doing a fine job for the team.

“The McCullum-Stokes regime get things right on a consistent basis because they back the players, they think outside the box. They are mavericks. After a day or two I thought they had overcomplicated life but they are getting it right. England are willing and brave enough to do what they think is right – that’s why they went to Abu Dhabi rather than to India earlier – and back their players to go and play.”

Vaughan feels the sedate approach of previous English teams wouldn’t have done the job for the visitors.

“The McCullum-Stokes regime get things right on a consistent basis because they back the players, they think outside the box. They are mavericks. After a day or two I thought they had overcomplicated life but they are getting it right. England are willing and brave enough to do what they think is right – that’s why they went to Abu Dhabi rather than to India earlier – and back their players to go and play.”

“There’s no repercussions if they get out being aggressive; that is what they’re told to do. An old England side would have tried to get that deficit of 190 runs down in 60 or 70 overs. That’s more risky in my view.”

The second Test match between India and England will be played at Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam from 2nd February.