"Lot of good will come out of this tour" - Brendon McCullum upbeat despite England's crushing series loss to India
England head coach Brendon McCullum expects them to become a better team after a 4-1 drubbing in the five-Test series against India. Nevertheless, the former New Zealand captain admitted that the visitors were exposed in the series.
Although England won the opening Test of the series, they crashed to heavy losses in the next four matches. The visitors' five-Test tour ended with an innings and 64-run loss in Dharamsala inside three days.
Speaking to BBC Sport, McCullum opined that their manner of losses prompts deep thinking regarding their approach.
"A lot of good will come out of this tour. I'm 100% positive about that. We will be a better cricket team for the experience, although it hurts a lot at the moment. Sometimes you can get away with things, but when you're exposed in the way we have been in the back end of this series in particular, it does require some pretty deep thinking and some adjustment to make sure we're staying true to what we believe in."
England suffered batting collapses at some stage of all five matches of the series. Their only win came in Hyderabad as Ollie Pope's terrific innings of 196 helped them turn around a deficit of 190 into a 28-run triumph.
Brendon McCullum promises tough conversations with players if required
McCullum added that he likes to keep a relaxed environment but won't hold back from having honest conversations with his players to prompt them to play well. The 42-year-old added:
"Whilst you guys know me as a pretty relaxed person, I still have a fierce drive to ensure that we will get this team to where we want to get to. We like to operate in a really calm, enjoyable and positive environment, but we don't mistake that for not having tough conversations when they are required."
Ben Stokes and Co. will face Sri Lanka and the West Indies during their home summer in Tests.