Former England captain Kevin Pietersen lashed out at the England team for holding very few practice sessions on the ongoing tour of India. England batters struggled against the potent Indian spinners throughout the tour as they lost both the T20I and ODI series. Alongside Pitersen, Former India cricketer Ravi Shastri also weighed in on the same, slamming England for an unserious approach.
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Seeing the Jos Buttler-led side once again capitulate against the Indian spinners during the third ODI in Ahmedabad. Shastri made a shocking revelation that England held just one practice session throughout the tour. The former India head coach also questioned the commitment of the team to improve. England held just two practice sessions on the tour, one during the T20I series and one during the ODI series.
IND vs ENG, 3rd ODI Highlights
Kevin Pietersen slammed this approach and questioned England’s plans to improve against spin ahead of the all-important Champions Trophy 2025. He also fumed at Tom Banton who joined the team for the third ODI replacing Jacob Bethell.
“Ravi Shastri and I were talking upstairs that these guys would’ve at least practiced in last week or so. They’ve had one practice session, the day before the Nagpur game, they haven’t practiced since. There’s only one batter – Joe Root – who had a net. I’m sorry, but you can’t come into the subcontinent, keep making the same mistakes, and then decide I’m not going to practice,” said Pietersen.
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Pietersen revealed that the England batter chose to play golf instead of practising after landing in India.
“The 2-hour flight from Dubai across here. He (Tom Banton) was on the golf course yesterday. He wasn’t batting, and where have the issues come? The start, 1 for 60, 2 for 80. And then, what happens? None of them can play spin. And how do you improve playing spin?,” said Pietersen on commentary.
“There’s not a single sportsman, man or woman, who goes into a series and decides I’m going to get better without practice. I’m sorry, I’m just so so sorry. I was flabbergasted when I heard that England have not practised since the first game. Absolutely flabbergasted…I get it, enjoy yourself. These are the best times of your life. Play golf, have the best of your time. Really enjoy playing for England. But by crikey, you get paid to score runs. You get paid to win games of cricket. You don’t get paid to play golf. This isn’t a golf tour, this is a cricket tour,” said the former English captain.
“You practice, so that you leave on the flight tomorrow, knowing that I’ve given my absolute everything to win a game of cricket for England. There isn’t one person in that England dressing room that can get on the plane tomorrow – maybe Joe Root is one because he practised – but there’s no one English player that gets on the plane tomorrow and say they gave their best to win for England. And that, for me, is sad,” he added.
“No, really. I’m gutted that I’ve to say that you disrespect Indian conditions and India so much. I’m absolutely gutted from an Englishman’s point of view,” said Pietersen.
Ravi Shastri also shared his opinion on the matter, slamming a lack of seriousness in England approach to the India series.
“From what I’ve heard, England have had just one net session this entire trip, if not any. If you’re not prepared to do the hard yards, you’re not going to improve,” said Shastri on commentary.
England’s spin woes in India
England’s weakness against spin was exploited by the Indian spinners throughout the tour as Varun Chakravarthy spun a web around them during the T20I series. He scalped 14 wickets from five matches and won the Player of the Series award. In ODIs, they failed to read the variations of Ravindra Jadeja who choked them in the middle overs in the first two matches, picking six wickets.
Hence, after a 0-3 whitewash in ODIs, England have a herculean task to work on their spin woes ahead of the Champions Trophy which will be played on the spin-friendly surfaces of Dubai and Pakistan. The Jos Buttler-led side doesn’t have much time on its hands as they start their campaign on February 22 against Australia.