Published: Feb 09, 2025, 10:39 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 09, 2025, 10:39 PM (IST)
Even though the England team performed quite well and posted a total of 204 against India, Kevin Pietersen has gone down harsh on England batters. Kevin feels that England batters lack the hunger to convert starts into generous scores in the 50-over format.
During the mid-innings broadcast, Pietersen proposed the fact that England batters were satisfied with scored of 50s/60s, and believed that they have done what they need to do. He claimed that apart from Joe Root, no one had the mentality to stay at the crease and turn the match.
Pietersen’s comments came after England opener Ben Duckett got dismissed for 65 runs off 56 balls during the 16th over. Duckett gave a mid-innings interview, and expressed satisfaction with his quick start along with Phil Salt. Kevin was clearly not impressed with Ben’s remarks and slammed the batsman’s approach.
“It seems to me there’s just a lack of hunger and a lack of desire to go and get that 130, 140. That’s what’s missing. Like, it’s just too easy. Get 40, get 50, get 60. That’s cool. Everything’s fine. Got my 50, got my 60. I’ll probably play the next game. If I don’t, I’ll have the day off and go and play golf, and I’m gonna do what I like. It just seems to me like they’re just lacking that bit of something that says, ‘Hey, man, come on. Let’s get that 100, let’s get that 130.’ This team here should be scoring 350 today. That’s what they should be doing. 304, they might still win this game. They’ve got a very good chance of still winning this game, but they should be able to be ruthless and get that 350, 360 because they’re good enough,” Kevin Pietersen said on Star Sports.
Pietersen continued by stating that the batsmen in every successful ODI team have the ability to turn an innings. He gave the example of the 2019 World Cup winning team as an example, stating that the team had players capable of scoring centuries even after their aggressive approach. He then criticised the style of England team, as they have mostly prioritized entertaining the crowd.
“I’m disappointed that now in the last couple of games, no one’s gone on to get a big, big, big score. When you have a look at the great one-day sides and you have a look at the side that played for England a number of years ago, and went on to win a World Cup, batters got hundreds, batters got big runs, and I think that there’s a level of comfort in this England team that everything’s just gonna be okay. And we’re gonna play a brand of cricket that we’re excited to play. We’re going to be a team that everybody wants to watch. But I think there comes a point when you’ve actually got to sit the guys down and say, ‘Playing for England, you need responsibility and you need to understand and accept that there are consequences for not winning matches. You need to win games of cricket.’ I know as an England player, now as an England fan, and having been in the England dressing room for a number of years, the fans want to win. End of story. They don’t care how you win, they just want you to win,” Pietersen concluded.
India eventually won the match by 4 runs and secured the series 2-0. The final match of the series will be held in Ahmedabad, which will decide if India wins by a clean-sweep or by a margin of 2-1.
Brief scored:
England- 304 all-out in 49.5 overs
India- 308/6 in 44.3 overs
