Former cricketer Michael Vaughan has humorously stated that the absence of Virat Kohli for India, coupled with England losing Harry Brook for the upcoming Test series, evens out the playing field.
Both teams have suffered huge blows even before the start of the highly-anticipated Test series. The much-awaited series is scheduled to begin on Thursday (January 25). Even before the start of the series, England have lost the services of their star batsman Harry Brook.
The right-handed batsman pulled out of the entire series, citing personal reasons. England have named Dan Lawrence as Brook’s replacement. And on Monday (January 22), Virat Kohli also pulled out of the first two Tests of the five-match series due to personal reasons.
Michael Vaughan on Kohli and Brook’s absence:
With Brook not playing the entire series and Kohli missing the first two Tests, Michael Vaughan has joked that it is a like-for-like swap. The former England captain made the comments while speaking on the Club Prairie Fire podcast,
“Obviously the news in the last 48 years, Harry Brook is unfortunately going to go home. Virat Kohli misses the first two, again for personal reasons. So, like for like kind of swap. Virat for Harry Brook,” said Michael Vaughan.
Unsurprisingly, his comments left the anchors as well as former Australia wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist in splits before he justified himself by saying: “Just look at the last 12 Test matches.”
Speaking further, Michael Vaughan playfully asked ex-England cricketer Phil Tufnell whether the Ben Stokes-led side would emerge victorious in the series with a scoreline of 5-0 or 4-0.
“Now all the talk is a 5-0, Phil. Do you think England will win 5-0 or 4-0? What do you think it is gonna be?” asked Vaughan.
In reply, Tufnell said: “I think, we are going to struggle a little bit. A bit of a loss losing Harry Brook. He is a fantastic player, great player of spin but I think in a funny sort of way, it might just balance up the side a little bit because they are definitely going to go with Foakes keeping. On those kind of pitches, you’ve got to go with Foakes.”
Watch:
Wonder what India 🇮🇳 fans will make of Vaughany comparing Harry Brook to Virat Kohli 🏏 & predicting a 5-0 series win for the visitors 😂
Phil Tufnell joins the show this week to preview England 🏴 in India.
Full episode out now – https://t.co/4gneGlknDt#ClubPrairieFire pic.twitter.com/9qjHEEC78u
— Club Prairie Fire (@clubprairiefire) January 23, 2024
