England captain Jos Buttler hit back at criticism of his team’s preparation after it was trounced 3-0 by India in their one-day international series.
Buttler’s men were hammered by 142 runs in the third ODI on Thursday morning in what is a grim sign for the nation ahead of the Champions Trophy.
Test coach Brendon McCullum took charge of the men’s white-ball team last month and his tenure has started in disastrous fashion.
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The massive loss comes barely two days after commentators in England ripped the Bazball “death cult”. The ODI loss follows a 4-1 T20 series defeat, also to India.
Cricket legends Ravi Shastri and Kevin Pietersen are among those who have questioned the training load of the England team, suggesting the players did not practice enough while in India.
“I get it. Enjoy yourselves. These are the best time of your life. Play golf. Go out, eat in a beautiful restaurant,” Pietersen said recently.
“But you get paid to score runs. That is why you get paid. You get paid to win games of cricket. You don’t get paid to play golf. This is not a golf tour, this is a cricket tour.
“You practice so that you leave on a flight tomorrow knowing you have given everything to win a game of cricket for England.
“I am gutted they have disrespected Indian conditions and India so much. I am absolutely gutted as an Englishman.
Former England wicketkeeper Matt Prior agreed with that assumption while speaking in commentary.
“You have to give yourself the best chance to perform,” Prior said.
“A lot of the younger guys, you would expect them to make the choice to get the extra nets in and work with McCullum who scored runs in the sub-continent.
“Sometimes you have to make that choice. It is those hard yards that earn you the right to have your day out.”
But Buttler doesn’t believe the training load was an issue throughout the tour.
“Not sure that is quite true,” Buttler said.
“We try to create a really good environment, but don’t mistake that for a lazy environment or lack of effort.
“There have been a couple of times we have not trained but we have done plenty of training throughout the tour.”
England must now pick themselves up and prepare for the one-day Champions Trophy later this month.
Shubman Gill scored 112 in 102 balls as India thrashed England by 142 runs in their third ODI.
Gill hit 14 fours and three sixes in his sixth ODI century with India reaching 356 in its 50 overs.
Shreyas Iyer scored 78 off 64 balls, while Virat Kohli also contributed 52 off 55. Wrist spinner Adil Rashid took 4-64 — his best for England against India – in 10 overs.
In reply, England had another hapless batting performance and was bowled out for 214 in 34.2 overs.
India’s star pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah was supposed to play this game to prove his fitness ahead of the Champions Trophy. But he was ruled out of that tournament owing to a lower back injury.
– with AP