“This Indian T20 team is not that good” - Michael Vaughan

Former England captain Michael Vaughan doesn’t rate the Indian T20I team, which is currently playing a 5-match series against England, too highly.

The Eoin Morgan-led visitors are 2-1 up in the five-match series after hammering the hosts by eight wickets in the third T20I in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.

Michael Vaughan has said that India are committing the same mistakes - constant chopping and changing - that England did in the Test series. He told Cricbuzz in this regard:

“You’re up against the best team in the world, and it very much reminded me of England in the Test series. Chopped and changed everything, and they are not that great a Test match team. This Indian T20 team is not that good.”

Michael Vaughan felt that the decision to move Ishan Kishan and Virat Kohli down to number three and four respectively in the batting order was a mistake, saying:

“India, I didn’t quite understand with the bat in hand how they changed two players who had done so well in the last game. Ishan Kishan, who had opened the batting goes to three and Virat Kohli who played brilliantly at three goes to four. Surely, you keep the substance of what had worked in the previous game, you maneuver a KL Rahul in the middle of the order.”

India have been constantly making changes to their batting order. While Shikhar Dhawan opened the batting with KL Rahul in the first T20I, Ishan Kishan did so in the second and Rohit Sharma in the third.

Moreover, they dropped Suryakumar Yadav from the third T20I, a game after he made his debut in which he did not get a chance to bat.

England win the third @Paytm #INDvENG T20I & go 2-1 up in the series. #TeamIndia will look to win the next game & take the series into the decider. Scorecard 👉 https://t.co/mPOjpECiha pic.twitter.com/zkN1xauHQL

— BCCI (@BCCI) March 16, 2021

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India are missing Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja: Michael Vaughan

Michael Vaughan has also reckoned that India are sorely missing their senior campaigners, pacer Jasprit Bumrah and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who add a lot of stability and substance to the team. While Bumrah is on leave, as he recently got married, Jadeja is recovering from a fractured thumb.

The former England player said in this regard:

“It’s as good as it should bem so when you get things that work, keep it. Keep it till the next game. I do think Bumrah, Ravi Jadeja… put those two into this team, and they just make it so good. You get an extra bowling option and a left-hand batting power with Jadeja and a world-class performer in Jasprit Bumrah.”

Following England’s win in the third T20I, Michael Vaughan also put out a tongue-in-cheek tweet, saying the “T20 World Cup in India could be won by the best tosser.”

Incidentally, all three matches in the ongoing T20I series have been won by the team winning the toss.

So it looks like the T20 World Cup in India could be won by the best Tosser !!!! #INDvENG

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) March 16, 2021

The fourth T20I between India and England starts in Ahmedabad on Thursday.