Rohit Sharma was clueless, England will whitewash India 5-0 in Test series: Monty Panesar

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After England's 28-run win in the first Test in Hyderabad on Sunday, former spinner Monty Panesar has declared that India will be whitewashed 5-0 in the series. India lost the match despite taking a massive 190-run lead.

The former England spinner who was part of the England team which won a Test series in 2012, said that England have a bright chance of a clean sweep in India if Ollie Pope and Tom Hartley repeat their performances in the upcoming matches.

Ollie Pope scored 196 runs and helped England overcome the deficit and set India a 231-run target. Playing his maiden Test match, Hartley picked seven wickets for 62 runs in the second innings to derail India's batting unit.

“If Ollie Pope and Tom Hartley continue to play like this it will be a whitewash, it will be 5-0 for England. It can happen if Ollie Pope and Tom Hartley play like this,” Panesar told ANI.

Panesar reckoned that India captain Rohit Sharma was clueless and had no answer for the masterclass from Pope who batted for 278 balls and hit 21 boundaries during his innings.

“It is a very big victory, no one even imagined this was even possible. Everyone thought that England would lose after a 190 deficit but Ollie Pope had a brilliant inning, one of the best innings we have seen in a long time and Rohit Sharma was clueless,” Panesar added.

Monty Panesar compared the win in the first Test to winning a World Cup. He said the Hyderabad Test win would be remembered for a long time in England cricket.

“It was one of the most famous victories England have ever produced overseas. This is big news in England. It feels like we have won the World Cup,” said Panesar.

The second India vs England Test match will start from February 2 in Visakhapatnam. Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul have been ruled out of the Test match. Virat Kohli is also unavailable for the Test due to personal reasons.