Brendon McCullum hits out at Ravi Shastri and Kevin Pietersen, dismisses ‘factually incorrect’ claims

England coach Brendon McCullum has dismissed the claims that they didn’t train adequately in the recently-concluded ODI series against India.

After the first ODI in Nagpur, England did not train in the second and third match against India.

Former India coach Ravi Shastri and England captain Kevin Pietersen has slammed Jos Buttler-led for skipping training ahead of the second and third ODIs.

Story continues below this ad

“Firstly, it’s factually incorrect, the whole statement that we don’t train,” McCullum told ‘talkSPORT.’

“We’ve trained plenty right throughout, and guys have come from a lot of cricket as well. I think it’s an easy thing to have as a throwaway line that guys don’t train enough when the results aren’t right.”

McCullum also pointed out the injury setbacks to Jacob Bethell (hamstring) and Jamie Smith (calf).

“We’ve got a style and a method that we believe in. We’ve got guys who are battling injuries and trying to make sure that we’ve got enough bodies out on the field, knowing that we’ve got a huge assignment coming up in a week or two.

Story continues below this ad

“Ultimately it’s factually incorrect what’s been said and we’ll stay true to what we believe in,” he said.

England suffered a 142-run defeat to India in their final ODI before the Champions Trophy slated in Pakistan and Dubai next week. The ODI series loss came after a 1-4 drubbing by India in the T20I rubber

“Ultimately, you’re judged on results… From our point of view, we’ve got to strip away the fear of failure that results can bring,” he said.

England will be in UAE for a short break before beginning their Champions Trophy campaign against Australia in Lahore on February 22.

Click here to read article