Follow UsAs England were on the verge of a series whitewash in the third ODI against England in Ahmedabad on February 12 (Wednesday), news quickly started doing the rounds that the visitors had just one practice session throughout the tour. The information was floated on commentary by Ravi Shastri, and it did not take long for Shastri’s comment to invoke reactions from the cricketing fraternity.
Reacting to the news, former England superstar Kevin Pietersen took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his absolute bewilderment over the Three Lions’ lousy attitude. England slipped to a 142-run defeat in Ahmedabad to make it 11 defeats in 15 ODIs under Buttler’s captaincy since the start of the 2023 ODI World Cup.
“I’m sorry, but I am absolutely gobsmacked that England did not have ONE team practice session since losing the 1st ODI and losing the T20 series. How can this be? Seriously, how?,” Pietersen wrote on X.
“I believe Joe Root was the only player to have a net this series, post-Nagpur.”
Pietersen criticised the England players for their lack of commitment to improve.
“There isn’t a single sportsman on this planet who can honestly say that they’d improve without practicing whilst they’re getting beaten,” he said.
“There also cannot be one player in that England side that can sit on the plane leaving India and saying to themselves, they did everything they can to try to help England win.”
The former England legend further asserted that he was ‘heartbroken’ by the fact that the current batch of players went through an entire tour of India with no genuine attempt of ‘trying’ to win and improve.
“Losing is fine if you’re giving your best to improve everyday and if England didn’t train during this series then they didn’t try. Heartbreaking for any England fan,” he said.
