Who said what: top 5 expert reactions to England's 2023 World Cup loss to Sri Lanka ft. Nasser Hussain
Defending champions England were dealt with another blow as they were comprehensively beaten by Sri Lanka in their 2023 World Cup encounter in Bengaluru on Thursday, October 26.
Opting to bat first, Jos Buttler and Co. were bundled out for just 157 runs and looked like a shadow of the dominant batting side that they were in the previous World Cup. Sri Lanka ensured there were no major hiccups in the chase as they coasted home in just the 26th over by eight wickets.
England's World Cup debacle so far has taken the cricketing world by shock and understandably so. On that note, let's take a look at five expert reactions to their poor performance against Sri Lanka:
#5 Aakash Chopra
Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra was baffled by the performances put in by Jos Buttler and Co. and was disappointed with the brand of cricket that they played.
In a video on his YouTube channel, Chopra took a dig at England's World Cup hopes by saying:
"What should I say about England? You haven't left me in a position to say anything. Regroup a little and if it's like this, you can book your return tickets now itself as you will get them slightly cheap, there is still some time left."
Chopra feels the defending champions aren't playing the cricket that got them to the summit of ODI cricket four years ago.
#4 Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh was particularly disappointed with the senior players in the team like Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes not stepping up to the plate. He feels England have been struggling because they aren't following the template that gave them success.
Here's what the former Indian off-spinner had to say in a video on his YouTube channel:
"England loved to chase in white-ball cricket and had batters who only dealt in fours and sixes," he added. "However, forget about boundaries; they aren't even sure of how to take singles. It seems as if they have forgotten how to play this format. They haven't looked like world champions."
Harbhajan believes Buttler and Co. will also lose against India in their next game in Lucknow on Sunday.
#3 Geoffrey Boycott
Former England cricketer Geoffrey Boycott believes captain Jos Buttler is batting too low in the current ODI team. He feels Buttler needs to find a way to bat in the top four to ensure he makes a major impact.
Here's what Boycott had to say in his column for The Telegraph:
"Why would you have him batting at six, sitting in the pavilion watching guys who aren’t as good as him using up a lot of overs? Jos has to open or not bat lower than four. He opens for England in T20 and for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL T20. He has played in the IPL successfully for a few seasons so knows the grounds and pitches well yet England bat him down the order when there are just a few overs left or they are in big trouble."
Boycott also threw his weight behind Buttler and said the latter is still the right person for leading the team. He feels it is unfair to compare Buttler's captaincy to that of Eoin Morgan, who won the 2019 World Cup.
#2 Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir criticized the defending champions for not showing enough character with their bat. He reckons a number of players just wanted to play their brand of cricket rather than digging deep and trying to assess the conditions.
Here's what Gambhir had to say on Star Sports:
"England's body language from the start was as though they were extremely disinterested. You cannot bat in just one way. There isn't even one batter in this entire batting unit who wants to grind. There is a difference between being able to do it and wanting to do it. It seemed like everyone was playing for their reputation and not for the country."
Gambhir felt that the batters didn't put their price on the wicket and that was one of the main reasons why Sri Lanka could rattle them with ease.
#1 Nasser Hussain
Former England captain Nasser Hussain believes the loss of form of a number of key players has hurt the defending champions badly. Amidst all the talk about it being an aging side, Nasser claimed that he would have still stuck to the squad for the showpiece event.
However, he agreed that the time might have come for them to go into a transition period. Here's what Nasser had to say in his column for the Daily Mail:
"It’s easy to be wise after the event and say ‘it’s an old side, we should have picked Phil Salt or Will Jacks or Ben Duckett.’ But I would not have swapped any of the players England brought here for anyone else. I wouldn’t have changed the side before this tournament but I would definitely be thinking about changing it now because it does feel like the end of an era."
Nasser feels England's urge to make constant changes in their combination without sticking to their plans also hurt them dearly.