Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has taken a dig at England after the side’s exit from the Champions Trophy, following their disappointing loss to Afghanistan on Wednesday. Chasing a massive target of 326 runs, England were bowled out for 317 with one ball to spare in Lahore. Ibrahim Zadran, who scored 177, lifted Afghanistan from a precarious 37-3 to a winning total as he put on key stands including 103 runs with Shahidi, who made 40. Zadran’s knock was the highest-ever individual score registered by a batter in the history of Champions Trophy.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!After England’s elimination, Gavaskar took a brutal jibe at England, saying that the Jos Buttler-led side has the tendency to play the blame game, instead of focusing on how to improve their performances. England were whitewashed by India in a three-match ODI series.
Gavaskar even suggested that England might also put the blame of their exit of India playing their matches in Dubai.
“They will still come and start moaning the next morning. See they cannot lose. If they lose there has to be an excuse and the excuse cannot be that they weren’t better that day or the other team was better, they will start blaming everything. They will start blaming India also because India are playing all their matches in Dubai and why are we not playing our matches at one venue,” Gavaskar said during a discussion on Ten Sports.
After England’s exit from the ICC Champions Trophy, former captains Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton slammed Jos Buttler’s leadership and opined that his reign as white-ball captain is over.
“Their cricket is way below the standards they set for themselves. Sometimes, you have to admit when it’s not working and make a change. And I think deep down, Buttler probably knows that,” Atherton said on Sky Sports.
Hussain echoed similar sentiments, saying that Buttler has not shown the same leadership presence as his predecessor Morgan.
“I’ve never looked at Buttler and thought ‘wow, what a leader.’ He doesn’t have the presence in the field that an Eoin Morgan had. Morgan was England’s greatest-ever white-ball captain, and he was always going to be a hard act to follow.
“Buttler hasn’t added much to this England team as a captain, and it has also affected his batting. When you take away from a great player and don’t gain anything from his leadership, it’s probably time to move on,” said Hussain.
from: NDTV Sports-Latest