England managed to win only one game in their recent white-ball tour of India.
England endured a nightmare in their recently concluded white-ball tour of India. While the Three Lions conceded the ODI series 0-3, they suffered a 1-4 defeat at the hands of India in the five-T20I series.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, “Ash Ki Baat”, legendary spinner Ravichandran Ashwin weighed in on England’s performance in the limited-overs series and he was critical of their approach.
“To see such a talented England side perform in such a way was disappointing and sad,” Ashwin said.
However, Ashwin expects the Jos Buttler-led side to turn their fortunes around in the upcoming Champions Trophy, slated to get underway on February 19 in Karachi.
England will begin their campaign against arch-rivals Australia at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on February 22.
“It is not that they don’t have the ability. I am sticking my nek out and will again that this is a top-class England side, but they have taken this ODI series against India very lightly. And England might look a completely different side in Pakistan during the Champions Trophy. If they don’t look a better team, I’d be very disappointed,” he added.
On the eve of the third ODI in Ahmedabad, England opener Ben Duckett had made a rather bizarre comment, saying that the visitors won’t mind losing 0-3 to India as long as they beat the Rohit Sharma-led side in the final of the Champions Trophy.
Ashwin lambasted Duckett for hiding England’s poor performance behind a joke. “No matter what Ben Duckett says but going into the Champions Trophy This series loss will create a big dent to their confidence,” the recently-retired spinner said.
“Ben Duckett has said similar things in the past too, saying Yashasvi Jaiswal has learnt playing aggressive cricket from England’s bazball style. I know Ben Duckett and his penchant for humour.. but this was no joke and it is like you are hiding your failures behind a humour.
“Your 2023 ODI WC were pretty bad as well. It isn’t like they are in a bad form over 2-3 months. It has been the case for four years now. Despite having such a talented group they are not able to justify their potential,” he further remarked.
Ashwin also slammed England Test captain Ben Stokes for terming the World Test Championship (WTC) as "utterly confusing".
“Even in Test cricket, I read somewhere a few days ago that how Ben Stokes said that he doesn’t understand the points system of the WTC,” Ashwin said.
“My only advice to him is that if you don’t understand the points system, then first go and understand it. This is not a joke. Every time you lose, you bring up such lame excuses.
“If India have played the way England are playing their cricket now, do you think we would have same captain and coach continue to be at the helm.
“After coming to India, they discuss about the pitch conditions, the kind of food they receive at the hotel…. everything but cricket,” he stated.