England’s head coach Brendon McCullum has expressed disappointment over his team’s 2-1 series defeat to Pakistan, acknowledging that they “had an opportunity to have been better than that.” After a dominant victory in the first Test, England succumbed to back-to-back losses in Multan and Rawalpindi, where Pakistan’s spinners Sajid Khan and Noman Ali wreaked havoc.
McCullum admitted that he was surprised it took Pakistan until the second Test to prepare spinning pitches, a tactic that has been England’s undoing on recent tours of the subcontinent. He praised the Pakistani spinners for their exceptional bowling, but emphasized that England’s batsmen failed to adapt to the challenging conditions.
Despite the defeat, McCullum remains confident in his team’s batting group, which he believes is the best England has. However, he acknowledged that they need to improve their ability to handle spin-friendly surfaces. The focus will also fall on England’s spinners, who were outperformed by their Pakistani counterparts.
McCullum emphasized that England will learn from their mistakes and use the lessons from this series to improve their performance in future matches on spinning pitches. He stressed the importance of holding firm during difficult periods and seeking continuous improvement.
