Michael Vaughan wants Rohit Sharma to lead like Virat Kohli in Border-Gavaskar trophy against Australia

Former England captain Michael Vaughan wants Rohit Sharma to captain like Virat Kohli in the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia. On the 2018-19 tour, Kohli became the first Indian captain to lead India to their maiden Test series triumph on Australian soil.

Rohit would miss the opening Test at Perth after he became a father for the second time. Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit’s deputy, will lead in the opening Test against the Aussies.

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli led in an aggressive manner and he was able to get the best out of the players. Furthermore, former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri played an instrumental role in India’s last two Test series wins in Australia.

Speaking to Fox Cricket, Michael Vaughan said, “I don’t think there can be another one, but who’s going to be the Virat Kohli? 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.”

Vaughan wants India to be aggressive from the get-go against Australia and be on the front foot to replicate their previous success.

“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. Ravi could do it. Virat could do it. I want to know in this Indian camp, who’s the Ravi Shastri?”

Meanwhile, Vaughan said Virat Kohli will be confident for the Border-Gavaskar series as he has savored success in the Australian conditions. Kohli has scored 2042 runs in 25 Test matches against Australia at an average of 47.48, including eight centuries. 

Kohli has even better numbers while playing in Australia as he has scored 1352 runs in 13 Test matches at an impressive average of 54.08, including six centuries.

“I think Virat Kohli, when he comes here, when he lands in Australia, he lands and knows that this is a place that he’s had a huge amount of success. You could argue which of the number fours has the biggest series could be the deciding factor of the whole series,” Vaughan said in the same interview.

The opening Test match between India and Australia will be played at Perth from November 22 onwards.