Former England skipper Michael Vaughan believes that Harry Brook should be seriously considered for the captaincy role if Ben Stokes remains sidelined with injuries. With Stokes currently out of the fifth and final Test against India at The Oval due to a shoulder problem, Ollie Pope has taken over as stand-in captain.
Brook, who recently captained England’s white-ball side and led them to a series win against the West Indies, has impressed many — including Vaughan.
“𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝑩𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒌, 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆, 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓. 𝑯𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒔 𝒂 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑽𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒐𝒅𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒕.
Ollie Pope’s Role as Vice-Captain Questioned
While Pope is currently deputizing for Stokes and has experience leading the team, Vaughan expressed concerns about whether he is suited for long-term leadership.
“𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆-𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏’𝒕 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔,” 𝑽𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅. “𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒖𝒔 𝑻𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆-𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒚.”
Vaughan praised Pope’s contributions as a supporting figure but leaned toward Brook for future captaincy opportunities.
England’s Uphill Task Against India
With England needing 374 runs to win the decisive Test — which would be their second-highest chase in history — they ended Day 3 at 50-1. The absence of key players like Stokes and Chris Woakes has left the bowling attack weakened, relying on Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue, and Jamie Overton.
Six dropped catches made England’s job harder despite eventually bowling India out for 396. Vaughan emphasized that Pope should not be blamed for England’s challenging situation:
“𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝑶𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝑷𝒐𝒑𝒆’𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒖𝒍𝒕 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
Confident Outlook from the England Camp
Despite the daunting target, England remains optimistic. Fast bowler Josh Tongue dismissed doubts about the chase, referencing their earlier successes in similar situations.
“𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆-𝒖𝒑 𝒘𝒆’𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕, 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏’𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏’𝒕 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒈𝒐,” 𝑻𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚.
England famously chased 378 against India at Edgbaston in 2022 and 371 earlier in this series at Headingley, making the current target seem achievable to many in the squad.
Also Read: England Chase History with Depleted Squad and Mounting Pressure
