- Ex-India coach Ravi Shastri had claimed England had just one net session
- Jos Buttler denied the suggestions after the 142-run defeat by India
Kevin Pietersen has hit out at England’s lack of training and preparation after they suffered another heavy loss to India.
Jos Buttler‘s side were thrashed by 142 runs in the third and final one-day international on Wednesday as India won the series 3-0. It was England’s seventh defeat from their eight limited overs matches on the trip.
England have faced accusations of a lack of professionalism during the tour, with former India coach Ravi Shastri saying he’d 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.’
Ex-England star Pietersen added fuel to the accusations as he claimed only Joe Root had practiced in the nets since the four-wicket loss in the first ODI in Nagpur last week.
In a post on X, Pietersen said he was ‘absolutely gobsmacked that England did not have ONE team practice session since losing the 1st ODI and losing the T20 series’.
He added: ‘How can this be? Seriously, how? I believe Joe Root was the only player to have a net this series, post Nagpur.
Jos Buttler’s England were thrashed by 142 runs in the third ODI against India on Wednesday
Former India coach Ravi Shastri (pictured) claimed England hardly trained in between matches
‘There isn’t a single sportsman on this planet who can honestly say, that they’d improve without practicing whilst they’re getting beaten.
‘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 help England win. And for that, I’m am actually incredibly sad this evening.
‘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!’
Buttler had earlier responded to Shastri’s comments. ‘I’m not sure that’s quite true. We’ve had a reasonably long tour, a few long travel days, there have been a couple of times we’ve not trained but we’ve certainly done plenty of training throughout 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, do well and improve.’
The hectic scheduling of eight white-ball internationals in 20 days, zigzagging across India in between, has limited the practice sessions of both teams. Rohit Sharma’s world number one-ranked side out-netted their opponents by one.
But when Kuldeep Yadav ended Tom Banton’s first England innings for more than three years for a joint top-score 38, they fell into another spin-induced implosion.
Pietersen, Shastri’s co-commentator for Wednesday’s clash, weighed in by saying: ‘He was on the golf course yesterday. He wasn’t batting, and where have the issues come? The start: one for 60, two for 80. And then, what happens? None of them can play spin. And how do you improve playing spin?’
