Jos Buttler insisted England are not “lazy” amid criticism about how often they have trained in India as they signed off on a miserable white-ball tour with a 3-0 ODI series whitewash defeat.
As England slid to a 142-run thumping and a seventh loss in eight games, former India player and coach Ravi Shastri falsely claimed the tourists had “just one net session this entire trip, if not any”.
Shastri’s underlying point was “you’re not going to improve” without putting in “the hard yards” as England again floundered with the bat, collapsing to 214 all out in response to India’s mammoth 356.
Ex-England captain Kevin Pietersen then queried why Tom Banton, who flew from the UK to India on Monday as an injury replacement for Jacob Bethell, was “on the golf course” on Tuesday instead of practising.
India, though, have only had one more training session on the trip than England, with both teams having to factor in a punishing travel schedule that has seen them play at eight different venues in 22 days.
While England have had several days off, they have undertaken six internal flights, including three of at least 800 miles, prompting Buttler to launch a defence of his and head coach Brendon McCullum’s methods.
“We obviously try to create a really good environment but don’t mistake that for a lazy environment or a lack of effort,” Buttler said. “The guys are desperate to perform, do well and improve.
“I think 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.”
England’s defeat was compounded by Ben Duckett suffering a groin injury when fielding and, while he batted in his usual position as opener, the sight of him limping badly was a major cause for concern.
Duckett is set for a scan but with England starting their Champions Trophy campaign against Australia on February 22 in Lahore, the omens do not look good despite Buttler keeping his fingers crossed.
“He’s obviously been playing really well and hopefully it’s not too bad,” Buttler said. “We’ll find out more over the next couple of days. There’s a little bit of time, hopefully he’ll be OK.”
England were already patched up as pace trio Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse and Jamie Overton were out with niggles, while Jamie Smith has been unavailable since the T20 series owing to a calf injury.
Banton therefore made his first international appearance since January 2022, having been officially confirmed as Bethell’s injury replacement in England’s 15-strong squad for the Champions Trophy.
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1st ODI, Nagpur, Feb 6 - India won by four wickets
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2nd ODI, Cuttack, Feb 9 - India won by four wickets
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3rd ODI, Ahmedabad, Feb 12 - India won by 142 runs
Banton was England’s joint-top scorer with 38 as they once more struggled for fluency against India’s spinners after Shubman Gill’s classy 112, plus fifties for Virat Kohli (52) and Shreyas Iyer (78), had helped the hosts to an imposing total after Buttler had won the toss on a baking hot day.
Adil Rashid’s four for 46 stunted India’s charge and denied them a 400-plus score while Mark Wood also impressed either side of leaving the field briefly as he struggled in the sweltering conditions.
Despite England being all out in 34.2 overs in Ahmedabad as they stumbled to a 16th loss in their last 23 ODIs since the start of the 2023 World Cup, Buttler retains hope for England’s Champions Trophy bid.
“We want the results to build confidence and win games – that feels a lot better having won matches as opposed to losing,” Buttler added.
“We’re up against a good side in their own conditions, they’re probably the benchmark in ODI cricket at the moment.
“We’ve not played near our potential, we’ve had some moments in games, never enough to force results or look like winning games of cricket in the last three matches.
“The fact we’re not anywhere near our potential yet or playing individually or collectively where we know we can be gives us something to look forward to. We believe we can get there and be a dangerous team in the Champions Trophy.”
