England coach Brendon McCullum gives brutal reaction to India drubbing with 'deep thinking' needed

England coach Brendon McCullum gives brutal reaction to India drubbing with 'deep thinking' needed

WATCH NOW: Sports round-up as England lose to India

Lewis Winter

By Lewis Winter


Published: 10/03/2024

- 16:57

Ben Stokes' team were dealt a harsh lesson by India in recent weeks

England coach Brendon McCullum admits his team were 'exposed' during the heavy Teat series loss against India.

The tourists lost the last four matches of the series to go down 4-1 after initially winning the opener in dramatic style in Hyderabad.


India's victory in Dharamsala was perhaps their most emphatic, winning by an innings and 64 runs after England twice faltered with the bat.

Batting was the issue for Ben Stokes' team throughout the series, with a number of collapses proving to be pivotal moments between the two teams.

Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes

England coach Brendon McCullum gave a brutal reaction to the loss to India

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England can see the emergence of spin duo Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley as a real positive of the tour.

McCullum believes there are other good signs that his team can take forward into the summer against West Indies and Sri Lanka.

However, he admits 'deep thinking' is required, insisting England got more 'timid' as the India series went on.

McCullum told reporters: "A lot of good will come out of this tour. I'm 100 per cent positive about that.

"We will be a better cricket team for the experience, although it hurts a lot at the moment.

"Sometimes you can get away with things, but when you're exposed in the way we have been in the back end of this series in particular, it does require some pretty deep thinking and some adjustment to make sure we're staying true to what we believe in.

"If anything we got more timid as the series went on and that was because of the pressure that was applied to us by the Indian line-up, not just with the ball.

"With the bat, they put us under a tremendous amount of pressure, too.

"There are some things where you can get a little bit of luck on your side and you paper over a couple of the cracks.

"When you are exposed in the way we have been here, you know that you have to get better in some areas.

"The next couple of months will be us working out that and making sure when we come to the summer we are a more refined version of what we are at the minute."

McCullum believes England missed an opportunity in a couple of the matches they lost but says credit should be given to India for putting them under huge pressure.

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Ben Stokes

England captain Ben Stokes had a difficult series with the bat against India

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The New Zealander added: "We were placed under a lot of pressure in those games, and we had our opportunities when we were in front of the game and we weren't able to close it out.

"Whether that affected our approach a little bit and put some doubt in our minds that wasn't there early in the series, I'm not really sure why at this point in time.

"They probably outplayed us at the style of cricket that we want to play and made us start to retreat a little bit. So that's something that we will have to change."

England have faced some criticism for allowing players to hide behind the aggressive style of cricket McCullum and Stokes want to adopt.

India celebrate vs England

India came from behind to beat England 4-1 in the Test series

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But the coach insists there is always room for individuals to look at themselves and see where they can improve.

McCullum said: "We didn't get where we've got to in life and in our careers without having some sort of hard edge.

"For us, we judge the input, the enthusiasm, the energy and always giving to the team, and the want to develop as a player. Not to be content with being the player you are now.

"Occasionally, as we all have in our lives, someone might have to give you a little nudge and say, 'Do you think you've got it right here?'

"In your own way, you might then recalibrate and put your energy into gear, but that's just natural. That's part of running a cricket team. It's just like running a family. It's no different."

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