England had yet another forgettable outing at the ongoing ODI World Cup as they got outplayed by Sri Lanka on Thursday in Bengaluru. Opting to bat first, the Jos Buttler-led side got bundled out for 156, despite Ben Stokes scoring 43 runs. Later, Sri Lanka chased down the target in 25.4 with eight wickets in hand. This was England's fourth loss in five matches and the defending champions are on the brink of elimination from the race for the semi-finals.
The Three Lions are receiving severe backlash from many former cricketers for their dismal show in the tournament. Recently, their former skipper Nasser Hussain did not mince his words and gave example of star India batter Virat Kohli's form to criticize Team England.
"What I don't like is giving players a cop out. And I feel like sometimes we do that in English cricket. When we win the 50-over World Cup and the 20-over World Cup, aren't they great? We're brilliant. And when the wheels come of it's the structure. It's the structure of English cricket, we're a disgrace. We play 20-over cricket, we play 100-ball cricket, we don't play enough 50-over cricket," Nasser told Sky sports.
"How much 50-over cricket domestically has Virat Kohli played? Or Heinrich Klaasen or anyone out here? They don't play domestic 50-over cricket, they learn from T20 franchises around the world. That's what's made this great side over the last six years, travelling round the world playing T20 franchises. It's such a lame excuse," he added.
Nasser went on to call-out England for their poor tactics, which eventually led to their downfall in the ongoing World Cup.
"Back to back, I've not seen England play as badly as that. They've changed their tactics, they've gone back to their all-rounders. They changed the toss, they batted first. So it shows really that tactics are important, the team is important, what you do at the toss is important, but the most important thing in any sport and in cricket in particular, is having players at the top of their game, especially in a World Cup," said Nasser.
“If you walk in that dressing room now and asked them to put their hand on their heart and say, are you in good nick? I reckon maybe one or two could say that. They have all collapsed as a unit and their form has deserted them. Compare that to South Africa and their batting lineup, everyone's in nick. You look at India and their batting lineup, Rohit, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill – all in nick," he added.
England will now be squaring off against hosts India in their next ODI World Cup 2023 match on Sunday in Lucknow.