'They have to forget the scoreboard' - Michael Vaughan has a piece of advice for Indian batsmen

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan reckoned that India don’t have much of a chance to make a comeback in the ongoing Test match at the Headingley in Leeds. At the close of play on day two, the Three Lions have amassed a first-innings lead of 345 runs with two wickets in the shed.

Things went downhill for India since James Anderson picked up three wickets in his opening spell. The visitors were shot out for 78 after which the Brits’ batters have made hay. Joe Root notched his third century of the series and put the home team on the driver’s seat.

Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed and Dawid Malan also scored gutsy half-centuries to guide the hosts to safer shores in the encounter. Vaughan said that the Indian batters need to focus on getting a big score in their second innings.

Michael Vaughan opines

“They have to forget the scoreboard. They’ve gotten one innings and they should focus on getting a big score. You can’t do that over the course of the first hour or first session. You, as a batting unit, individually, have to work out your own mindset, your own game to understand how you are going to get that big individual score,” Vaughan told Cricbuzz.

“When you get that, you can reach 400-500. But you can’t get the big number without going through the process of what you need. They will lose this week, I’m pretty sure.

Vaughan said that going into the fourth and penultimate Test, a few of the Indian batters need to find their form. The veteran also reckoned that Rohit should try and stop getting out to the pull shot. Two days into the third Test, Vaughan believed England are the firm favourites.

“But can you find a bit of form from one or two of those players, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane Cheteshwar Pujara? Sharma can’t afford to get out to the pull shot once again. Virat Kohli himself needs to find form and rhythm,” he stated.

“As much as I think India are going to lose the Test quite convincingly, they can take quite a bit from the second innings, individually to the next game,” Vaughan added.

The fourth Test is scheduled to get underway on September 2 at the Kennington Oval in London.