Kevin Pietersen ‘gobsmacked’ by England’s lack of training during India series as Jos Buttler defends side

England suffered a 3-0 ODI defeat in India, with former batter Pietersen claiming that only Joe Root had netted during the series. Kevin Pietersen has claimed that England “didn’t try” during their ODI series defeat to India, accusing Jos Buttler’s side of not holding a single training session during a disastrous trip. A 3-0 clean sweep in the 50-over format followed a 4-1 T20I series defeat for the tourists, who were hoping to tune up ahead of the Champions Trophy, which begins in Pakistan next week.

A miserable trip on the pitch was compounded by mounting injury problems, with opener Ben Duckett the latest to sustain an issue in the third ODI. The left-hander suffered a groin injury and is a doubt for the upcoming tournament. England have struggled significantly against spin since arriving in India, but according to former batter Pietersen, they have not necessarily sought to solve their issues in the nets.

The 44-year-old has been working as a commentator during the series and claimed that only Joe Root had netted during a disastrous series, with no team session held. “I’m sorry, but I am absolutely gobsmacked that England did not have ONE team practice session since losing the 1st ODI and losing the T20 series,” Pietersen said on X, formerly Twitter. “How can this be? Seriously, how?. “I believe Joe Root was the only player to have a net this series, post Nagpur. There isn’t a single sportsman on this planet who can honestly say, that they’d improve without practicing whilst they’re getting beaten. There also cannot be one player in that England side that can sit on the plane leaving India and saying to themselves, they did everything they can to try help England win. And for that, I’m am actually incredibly sad this evening.

“Losing is fine if you’re giving your best to improve everyday and if England didn’t train during this series then they didn’t try. Heartbreaking for any England fan!”. A combined 7-1 margin across formats represented a disappointing start to life under Brendon McCullum, who is now England coach across both the red-ball and white-ball games. The Test team have taken a more relaxed approach to training since McCullum’s arrival in 2022, while time on the golf course has been a regular feature, as it is for many international cricket teams.

Captain Buttler defended his side’s preparation and suggested that they had trained regularly during a series that featured eight games across 22 days. “That’s not quite true,” Buttler said of Pietersen’s comments after the final ODI defeat in Ahmedabad. “I think we’ve had a reasonably long tour, a few long travel days, there have been a couple of times we’ve not trained but we’ve certainly done plenty of training throughout the tour.