"It's up to us whether we want to listen to it or not"- Brendon McCullum unfazed by England's scrutiny post heavy loss against India
England head coach Brendon McCullum claimed that his team had no regrets about their approach despite being thumped by India in the third Test of the ongoing series in Rajkot.
The visitors lost the game by 434 runs, the biggest win margin ever for India in terms of runs in their Test history. Several cricket pundits and former England cricketers have been critical of the 'Bazball' approach and have claimed that the visitors would need to alter their brand of cricket.
However, speaking to BBC's Test Match Special Podcast, Brendon McCullum claimed that England aren't letting 'outside noise' affect them. He said:
"People are entitled to their opinion, good, bad or ugly. It's up to us whether we want to listen to it or not. The dressing room is a very strong place where confidence is high and guys are backed to go out there and allow their talent to flourish. If we allow the outside noise to seep in, that's our problem."
McCullum also stated that England will continue to be aggressive and put pressure on India to try and level the series in the fourth Test at Ranchi. The Test will begin on Friday, February 23.
Brendon McCullum takes inspiration from Hyderabad turnaround
Brendon McCullum shed light on England's famous win by 28 runs in Hyderabad in the first Test. He explained how everyone had written off the visitors after conceding a massive lead (190 runs) in the first innings and yet they managed to turn the tide on the hosts.
On this, he opined:
"We won the first one here when halfway through the Test no-one would have given us a chance, then we lost the next two. I'm pretty excited about the next two. If we bounce back from this then we'll know this team is starting to get where we want it to get to. Too right we can win the series."
England were 2-0 down in the Ashes at home last year and managed to level the series in the end. It will be interesting to see if they continue to play the 'Bazball' way or do they finetune their approach to adapt to the conditions.