“Great captaincy from Virat Kohli” - Michael Vaughan ‘praises’ Indian captain for allowing Rohit Sharma to get ‘involved’

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan praised Virat Kohli in his inimitable ‘tongue-in-cheek’ style following India’s eight-run win on Thursday.

The regular Indian captain handed over the captaincy to Rohit Sharma as the fourth T20I came to a thrilling conclusion. At the post-match conference, Virat Kohli stated that he had aggravated his upper quad a little bit, and hence was off the field in the last few overs.

Vaughan, though, took to Twitter and sarcastically commented:

“Great captaincy from Virat ... !! Allowing @ImRo45 to get involved & clearly his tactics work ... #INDvENG.”

He then pointed out the significant role that cricketers from the Mumbai Indians played in India’s tense win in a follow-up tweet. Vaughan, who had earlier claimed that MI are a better T20 side than Team India, wrote:

“Just a thought ... @surya_14kumar Mumbai Indian … @hardikpandya7 Mumbai Indian ... @ImRo45 captaincy Mumbai Indian !!!! @mipaltan #JustSaying #INDvENG.”

Rohit Sharma and the bowlers held their nerves brilliantly under pressure as India won the fourth T20I to level the five-match series 2-2.

Suryakumar Yadav hammered 57 from 31 in his first international innings for India, while Shreyas Iyer blasted 37 from 18. India ended their innings at 185 for 8 batting first.

From one captain to other 🤝#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/5lmDuZfxP4

— ICC (@ICC) March 18, 2021

Hardik Pandya (2 for 16), Shardul Thakur (3 for 42), and Rahul Chahar (2 for 35) then combined to hold England to 177 for 8. Ben Stokes hammered 46 from 23 while Jason Roy scored 40 from 27. A couple of big sixes from Jofra Archer gave England a glimmer of hope towards the end, but Thakur held his nerve to see India through.

Virat Kohli questions ‘soft signal’ call after Suryakumar Yadav dismissal controversy

Despite the victory, Virat Kohli expressed disappointment at how Suryakumar Yadav’s first innings for India came to an end. Yadav was given out caught, even though replays hinted that fielder Dawid Malan might not have taken the catch cleanly.

However, Yadav had to walk back to the pavilion, as the on-field umpire’s soft signal was out.

Questioning the rule, Virat Kohli said the following at the post-match presentation:

"There was an instance in the Test series when Jinx (Ajinkya Rahane) caught the ball and wasn't sure. When there's a half-and-half effort, the soft signal becomes more important. I don't know why there can't be an "I don't know" call for the umpires. You want these things ironed out to keep the game linear. But we want clarity on the field."

Speaking about India’s win, Virat Kohli said it was a tough game against a top side.

“The dew factor was massive. A few instances in the middle were strange, but 180-plus was what we were looking at, and a special mention to SKY (Suryakumar Yadav). The guys in our squad are confident heading into the IPL. Shardul (Thakur) turned it around but our powerplay kept them in check," Virat Kohli stated.

"It's not easy to walk in at three and start like that, we were stunned by that start (from SKY), he stamped his authority, big credit to these youngsters, coming in and grabbing the opportunities, you set your standards high, and Hardik (Pandya) bowling his four overs in the way that he did augurs very well," he added.

🔸 Suryakumar Yadav’s maiden half-century🔸 Shardul Thakur’s double-wicket overIndia secure a thrilling eight-run win in the fourth T20I and level the series.#INDvENG report 👇

— ICC (@ICC) March 18, 2021

With the five-match series level 2-2, the decider of the series will be played on Saturday in Ahmedabad.