Former England Captain Michael Vaughan discovered heat on Indian team leadership, warned Indian coach Gautam Gambhir and young captain Shaubman Gill after losing visitors in the first headingley test. After Vaughan had previously predicted the result of 3-1 in favor of the hosts, he revised his prediction to 4-0 Whitewash after Ben Stokes-cited England was chasing the mammoth 371-run to get 1-0 in a series of five matches.
Vaughan, known for his language exchanges with the former opener of India Wasim Jaffer on the social media, was also not delayed this time. “In the evening @Wasimjaffer14 .. I hope you are fine .. #1-0,” Vaughan wrote on X (formerly Twitter), shortly after England packed victory. Jaffer replied, “Happy that the young Indian team feared you like this. Enjoy victory, Michaela, we’ll get back.” But Vaughan fired with a cheeky warning: “Now it could be 4-0, wasi.”
The defeat triggered India under pressure, especially with regard to the fact that in the test unprecedented performance for the team he still lost had five individual centuries. This is the first time in the history of the test that the party has lost despite the five doughs of scoring the century.
The standout performance for England came from the opener Ben Duckett, who broke the sensational 149 out of 170 balls in the fourth shift. His knocking was set to chase the record and earned high praise from Vaughan, who called him the best body in the world right now.
“The pound for the pound, I think it is the best bat in the international cricket,” Vaughan wrote in his column for Telegraph. “The others in the interview would be Travis Head or Aiden Markram, but in the current form I should be Ben over them, especially when it does it in such a difficult position, it opens in all formats.”
Vaughan also praised Duckett’s unique style and courage, especially his back sweeps from Ravindra Jadeja. “There’s a bit of genius about him. It’s his smile and a relaxed way associated with an incredible eye for the ball and the smart strategies that make him so brilliant.”
The initial test loss raised concerns in the Indian camp, and the questions are now approaching the composition of the team, tactical performance and their ability to bounce under pressure.
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Published:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
June 26, 2025
