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Brendon McCullum believes England need to be relentless when facing spin after their 4-1 Twenty20 international series defeat by India.
While six-hitting seemed the tourists’ focus regardless of the state of the game, McCullum, England’s head coach, does not want his side to hold back against the turning ball in 20-over cricket. Varun Chakravarthy was their main source of discomfort, the leg-spinner named the player of the series after taking 14 wickets at 9.85.
“At times, we’ve been a touch tentative,” said McCullum. “We want to keep trying to apply pressure. Particularly when they’ve got such a good batting lineup, you don’t really have a time where you can just take time out of the game. Four or five years ago in T20 cricket it was like that, and I think we’ve seen it evolve so quickly that there is no dead time now.
“I think our guys are really good players of spin. We’ve probably not been at our best against them but credit goes to Chakaravarthy and [Ravi] Bishnoi as well. I know the scoreline reads 4-1 and it’s disappointing to lose the series but Rome wasn’t built in a day. I think we’ve seen a pretty clear gameplan of how we want to play the game.”
Joe Root, arguably England’s finest technician against spin and in the squad for the upcoming one-dayers with India, has been tipped in some sections of the media as a possible solution for next year’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. Root has just come off a productive franchise stint in the SA20, averaging 55.8 from eight innings while striking at 140.
But McCullum was not willing to look too far ahead when asked about a potential return for Root, who has not played a T20 international since May 2019. “We have a little while to go before we get to the World Cup,” McCullum said. “We will make decisions like that down the line. I think it’s too far to forecast that. The good thing about a series like this is it builds that bank of knowledge of playing in these conditions and playing against very good teams and the level of risks you need to operate at, and we will be better off for it.”
Part of the knowledge banked is what England should expect in the coming years. Abhishek Sharma is not in India’s squad for the one-dayers but will surely be there soon, having struck a record-breaking 135 on Sunday.
“Sometimes you try all the different plans you want, but if he’s hitting it like that, you really can’t stop it,” said McCullum. “We’ve seen so many players over the years in this format that have been able to do it – Chris Gayle, Aaron Finch, AB de Villiers – and maybe Abhishek Sharma is putting his hand up as one of those players.”
As for the lingering controversy of the concussion substitute India used in the fourth T20, with fast bowler Harshit Rana replacing Shivam Dube, a batting all-rounder, McCullum said: “We respectfully disagree with the decision from Javagal [Srinath, the match referee] to allow someone with a different skillset to step into that role.
“I had a quick chat to Javagal after. It was lighthearted, and there was no emotion involved. It was just trying to understand how we got to that decision. We respectfully disagreed and we moved on.”
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Regarding Dube’s inclusion for the final match of the series, two days on from a blow to the helmet, McCullum said: “I was a little bit surprised because I was just worried about player welfare. Concussion is well known now in any sport and there’s a lot more known about how dangerous they can be. Especially when you have guys bowling 90mph. The decision was made that he would play and I’m sure the Indian medical team were comfortable with that.”
The three-match one-day international series begins on Thursday, with Saqib Mahmood to play the opener. Despite beginning his tour with a triple-wicket maiden on Friday, Mahmood was replaced by Mark Wood for the final match of the series, a sign of England’s need for speed. “Saqi was outstanding in the [fourth T20] and he’ll play in the first ODI as well,” said McCullum. “We wanted Woody to charge in on this [Mumbai] surface and try to double down on our mantra and our philosophy.”
McCullum stated his pleasure at seeing Jofra Archer make it through five T20s, though a cut on the quick’s hand is being managed. Jamie Smith is set to miss the first two one-dayers having struggled with a tight calf, while England have kept Rehan Ahmed on. The leg-spinner was initially only selected for the tour’s 20-over leg.
