Kevin Pietersen launched a scathing assessment of England’s appetite to combat spin after their inadequacies were exposed on a disastrous white-ball tour of India.
England slumped to a 142-run defeat in Ahmedabad as India completed a series whitewash with victory in the third ODI.
It was the seventh defeat of a chastening eight-game tour for Jos Buttler’s side, who head into the Champions Trophy in Pakistan bereft of form and confidence.
Joe Root is understood to have been the only player to partake in a nets session ahead of the third ODI, with other members of the squad reportedly favouring a round of golf.
Sky Sports News understands the team trained before the first ODI and practised several times during the preceding T20 series.
However, due to travel commitments, keeping players fresh and injury concerns, the team did not train before the second and third ODIs.
With England crumbling from 126-2 to 214 all out in 34.2 overs against India’s spinners on Wednesday, Pietersen could not fathom how the opportunity to improve against spin was not seized.
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‘Have your days off in England!’
“You have a major tournament coming up in the Champions Trophy, and from what we have heard, one batter has had a net in the last week or two: Root, the one batter who probably doesn’t need one!” he said on Star Sports.
“Tom Banton arrived two days ago from the UAE, and he was on the golf course yesterday, he wasn’t batting. Where have the issues come? None of them can play spin. And how do you improve playing spin? In the nets!”
Former India captain and coach Ravi Shastri, who was co-commentating alongside Pietersen added: “If you’re not prepared to do the hard yards, you’re not going to improve.”
When asked after the match that Shastri was under the impression England had only had “one net session the entire trip”, captain Jos Buttler disputed that assumption.
“I’m not sure that’s quite true to be honest,” Buttler said. “It’s been a reasonably long tour with a few long travel days.
“There’s been a couple of times where we’ve not trained, but we’ve certainly done plenty of training through the tour.
“We obviously try to create a really good environment, but don’t mistake that for a lazy environment or a lack of effort. The guys are desperate to perform and do well and improve.”
Before Buttler’s response, former England captain Pietersen was critical of the apparent lack of time on the ground between matches from the touring side.
“I never played golf when I played cricket,” he said. “I was in the nets hitting thousands of balls, trying to make improvements here in the sub-continent. Have your days off in England.
“England will be bitterly disappointed, but they have only got themselves to blame. The margin of defeat got bigger and bigger. Thinking caps need to go on very quickly. If you don’t practice, you don’t improve.
England’s miserable white-ball tour was rounded off with a 142-run drubbing by India in the third one-day international in Ahmedabad
“The sub-continent is where you learn the art of being able to play these guys, by playing all sorts of spinners in the nets. These guys love bowling to foreign batters, you’ve got thousands of little kids wanting to bowl to an England team.
“This is where you learn, not in England, where these players have grown up and are comfortable. England should be spending hours in the nets and leaving India thinking they are much better players of spin.
“I’ve been on tours when we have lost every single game, but I have left knowing there are players that have improved the way they played and thought about spin because they had done the hard yards in the nets.
“It may not change the results now but, goodness me, it might change the result in Lahore in a few weeks time when you’re playing spin well and better.”
‘Results do matter’ – KP responds to Duckett
Ben Duckett said victory in the Champions Trophy would paper over England’s poor white-ball tour of India
Pietersen was equally scathing of Ben Duckett’s comments on the eve of the match in Ahmedabad in which he said a 3-0 series whitewash would not matter if England went on to win the Champions Trophy.
“Those words should be frowned upon,” the former England captain added. “I sort of understand his reasoning saying that losing to India would mean absolutely nothing if they win the Champions Trophy.
“I hope that England can turn on that tap and flick that switch that enables all their batters to get hundreds and their bowlers to get wickets, because it’s quite a statement of what that dressing room thinks.
“But if they think that just here in India, they can just turn up it doesn’t matter… The results do matter. You’re playing for your country. You’ve got many cricketers in England who would love to be in your position and would love to come to India, would love to play in front of these crowds.
“It’s stuff that I as an ex-player, wish that I still had. I wish I could still play in front of these crowds. So, when you hear statements like that, it just really is disappointing.”
England begin their Champions Trophy campaign against Australia in Lahore on Febraury 22 before facing Afghanistan at the same venue four days later and then South Africa in Karachi on March 1.
Have England done too little in the nets?
Former England wicketkeeper Matt Prior, speaking on TNT Sports:
“It’s very easy to sit here now and say they should be in the nets every minute of the day working hard, and what’s this golf rubbish. I’m sure there will be people sat at home fiercely frustrated by watching England lose time and time again.
“Your initial reaction to hearing they have had one net session in this whole ODI series, and that one batsman was Joe Root is ‘hang on a second’. You’ve got young batsmen struggling for runs, why are they not going in the nets working hard.
“India as a nation loves cricket. When you turn up at nets there are literally 40 kids that want to bowl at you all day long. If you wanted to get your kit on and bat for six hours against spin, you have that opportunity to work on your game.
“We have to be balanced as well, it has been a long tour, there has been a lot of time away, the travel is an element. Especially when you are losing, you cannot remove all elements of fun and beast yourself.
“But as a young team rebuilding, an opportunity to build for a Champions Trophy in the sub-continent, you should be in the nets, you should be working on your game trying to improve yourself.”
Joe Root and Tom Banton were part of an England batting collapse that saw six wickets fall for 49 runs as they fell to another heavy defeat in India in the third ODI
Finn: You can compound bad habits in the nets
Former England fast bowler Steven Finn warned prolonged nets sessions can occasionally have an adverse effect, citing his experiences during the 2013/14 Ashes tour in Australia.
“I think you can compound bad habits in the nets before going to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy [later this month] where spin is not as prevalent as it is in India,” he told TNT Sports.
“I am not infuriated at them not practising in this series as we know McCullum has the philosophy of taking pressure off players.
“On my 2013/14 Ashes tour I made everything complicated by practising more. The more I did that, the worse I got and it took me 18 months to untangle the rubbish I put inside my head.”
England in India results 🏏
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