England’s head coach Brendon McCullum said that they had to prioritise fitness of players due to injuries in the side with the Champions Trophy coming up.
England have been under fire of late for the team’s underwhelming results going into the 2025 Champions Trophy and reports of their lack of nets sessions throughout the three-match ODI series against India. England lost the series 3-0, with all three matches being largely one-sided affairs. Head coach Brendon McCullum has now brushed away claims that England did not train enough over the course of the series, skipping nets sessions in favour of winding down by playing golf.
Former England captain Kevin Pietersen put up a few especially passionate rants while commentating on the match and after, with former head coach Ravi Shastri also joining in. “Firstly it’s factually incorrect, the whole statement that we don’t train. We train plenty right throughout, guys have come from (playing) a lot of cricket as well. It’s an easy thing to have as a throwaway line, saying guys aren’t training hard enough when results aren’t right,” McCullum told TalkSport after the match.
McCullum didn’t deny that England didn’t have many net sessions after the first ODI, with the accusation being that they had just one net session after losing the first ODI in in Nagpur. The former New Zealand captain said that the team is trying to keep players fit amid a rising number of injuries. “We have got a style and a method we believe in, guys who are batting injuries. (We are) trying to make sure we have got enough bodies out in the field knowing that we have a huge assignment coming up in a week or two,” said McCullum. “Ultimately it’s factually incorrect what is being said. We disagree with it and we will stay true with what we believe in.”
England’s forgettable buildup to the Champions Trophy
England lost the first two ODIs to India by four wickets, although the result doesn’t really reflect what extent they were behind, as the hosts had collapsed in the end while trying to hit their way to the target. England then lost the third ODI by 142 runs. Pietersen had been critical of the England batters.
Only Ben Duckett, Joe Root and captain Buttler could get half-centuries from among the visitors and Duckett’s 65 in the second ODI was the highest score by an England batter in the series. England have lost all four of the ODI series they have played since their group stage exit in the 2023 World Cup. They have won just four out of the 14 ODIs they played in this period.
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