Former India head coach Ravi Shastri slammed England for their lacklustre performance in the ongoing ODI World Cup. Shastri, who is very vocal about his opinion, didn’t mince his words and said that the difference between India and England is 8 teams.
Jos Buttler and Co. suffered a crushing 100-run defeat to India on Sunday as they are all but out of the semifinal race now. Chasing a below-par 230-run target, England were bundled out for just 129 as none of the batters put up a fight with the bat after a decent show by the bowlers.
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After Sunday’s match, Shastri asserted that the England cricket team have disappointed their supporters with the kind of cricket they have played in the tournament thus far.
“England should be devastated – spectators, supporters. Because the first match which they lost, 17 overs were left in the game when New Zealand beat them. Against South Africa, they got all out in 20 overs. That game ended early. Then they were all out in 30 overs against Sri Lanka, where SL chased the target and finished the match in 25 overs. Today, they had lost 8 wickets inside 32 overs,” said Shastri on Star Sports.
He further suggested that England should be said over their performance in the last couple of weeks as their title defence looks extremely weak at the moment.
“You call yourselves World Champions? It means, if they are not sad over their performance, who will? If someone asks what is the difference between India and England, it is of 8 teams,” Shastri added.
England have lost five of their six matches and everything is going downhill for them in this campaign. Against India, Liam Livingstone (26) was the only batter who crossed the 20-run mark in the run-chase.
Shastri further added that England have to keep the Champions Trophy 2025 qualification in mind in the upcoming matches of the tournament.
“From here on, England will have to play for pride. The reason I am saying that is because right now they are at the bottom of the points table. And in the Champions Trophy which takes place in 2025, only the top 8 teams of the World Cup can qualify. So if England remain in the bottom two, imagine a team like them not playing an ICC tournament as big as the CT would be a huge blow,” said Shastri.
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