Don't Care What Anyone Says, Declares Under-Fire Alastair Cook
Alastair Cook defended England's ODI approach and said irrespective of what critics said, he did not expect his batsmen to go out and immediately throw caution to the wind against spinners on turning pitches.
Captain Alastair Cook has defended England's approach against spin after they lost the third ODI in Nottingham by six wickets allowing India to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
England were, at one stage, comfortably placed at 82 for no loss but were finally shot out for 227 runs at Trent Bridge, Saturday. They lost six wickets to spin as off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin took 3-39, while slow left-armer Ravindra Jadeja and part-timers Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu got a wicket apiece for India. (James Anderson Booed by Indian Fans)
"You don't go in there when you lose wickets and keep whacking boundaries. I don't care what anyone says. Not many people come in on a turning wicket and whack it straight away," Cook was quoted as saying by BBC.
Cook, who top-scored for England with 44 and shared a second successive half-century opening stand with Alex Hales, said ODI cricket is all about making partnerships and England failed miserably in it.
"You build boundaries by building a partnership. When you keep losing wickets, it keeps knocking you back. You've got to consolidate; you have to allow yourself to get in. Then you can accelerate a little bit. That's the way you have to play," he said. (Dhoni Equals Azhar's ODI Record)
"A lot of wickets have fallen to spin in this series for us. We need to improve on that. We got off to another good start and to be bowled out for 220 is incredibly frustrating. We know that as a side we didn't bat very well. There were a couple of soft dismissals," he said.
With two ODIs left, Cook's position as ODI captain is under threat. Former England cricketers have not only called for Cook's sacking but also believe that England have no chance of winning the 2015 World Cup.
Former England spinner Phil Tufnell feels that the batsmen are not using their feet against Indian spinners.
"Part of England's problems in the middle overs is they don't use their feet enough to tackle the spin bowlers. They almost become sitting ducks," Tufnell told BCC Test match special.
Former England spinner Graeme Swann said "old-style" cricket won't help England win next year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
After Saturday's loss, ex-England captain Michael Vaughan tweeted: "The sooner England accept they can't play modern-style ODI cricket the sooner they might play it a little better...."