Former captain Nasser Hussain believes for quite some time now England are way off in white-ball format from where they were under former skipper Eoin Morgan. The Three Lions arrived in India on a white-ball tour looking for some positives and winning momentum before heading to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. After landing in the sub-continent, England’s hopes were quickly dashed away by a relentless young Indian team. England got outfoxed in all aspects as the T20I series ended with a 4-1 series defeat for the touring party.
The defeat didn’t leave England’s shadow and continued to follow the touring party in the first ODI in Nagpur. India spinners Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav continued to expose England’s Achilles heel, forcing them to fold on a sub-par 247.
In reply, Shubman Gill (87), Shreyas Iyer (59) and Axar Patel (52) contributed handsomely to steer India past the finishing line comfortably with more than 11 overs to spare.
“It’s followed similar paths, hasn’t it? Most of the games, even the T20s, have been periods where they’ve been in the game and then a clumsy mistake like that [around Phil Salt’s run-out in the first ODI]. Then spin comes on. Ravindra Jadeja bowls beautifully. The T20s they lost and they lost a lot of those games for spin as well,” Hussain said on the Sky Sports podcast.
After witnessing England’s recent slump in white-ball cricket, Nasser believes England have drifted away from the position of dominance they had under Morgan and Trevor Bayliss. The captain-coach combination led England to World Cup glory in 2019.
“So India, obviously white ball in that final in the World Cup in Ahmedabad, they won the T20 World Cup, so they’re a formidable white-ball side. And also the depth to Indian cricket. Abhishek Sharma in those T20s – wow, what a player. Shubman Gill comes back in. Virat Kohli doesn’t play. Whoever they pick, they are a wonderful side. But England white-ball cricket for quite some time now has been way off where it was under Morgan and Bayliss. So I do think it’s a very important few months ahead.” he added.
With two ODIs remaining and the series on the line, England would look to find the winning combination in the second match against India on Sunday in Cuttack.
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