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Kevin Pietersen went down heavily on England batters despite team ended up posting a challenging total of 304 runs against India in the second ODI at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. Pietersen feels England batters lack hunger and desire to convert starts into substantial scores in the 50-over format, which provides ample time for batsmen to build innings. During a mid-innings broadcast, Pietersen argued that the England batsmen were too easily satisfied with scores in the 50s and 60s, believing they had done their job. He asserted that, with the exception of Joe Root, none of the England players possessed the mentality to stay at the crease and turn those starts into hundreds.
Kevin Pietersen lashes out at England batters
Pietersen's comments followed the dismissal of England opener Ben Duckett, who was out for 65 runs off 56 balls in the 16th over. Duckett had given a mid-innings interview expressing satisfaction with his quickfire start alongside Phil Salt. Pietersen was clearly unimpressed with this attitude and criticized the batsman's approach. The discussion originated with Parthiv Patel, who suggested that England could have easily reached a total of 340 on the flat track at the Barabati Stadium.
"It seems to me there's just a lack of hunger and a lack of desire to go and get that 130, 140. That's what's missing. Like, it's just too easy. Get 40, get 50, get 60. That's cool. Everything's fine. Got my 50, got my 60. I'll probably play the next game. If I don't, I'll have the day off and go and play golf, and I'm gonna do what I like. It just seems to me like they're just lacking that bit of something that says, 'Hey, man, come on. Let's get that 100, let's get that 130.' This team here should be scoring 350 today. That's what they should be doing. 304, they might still win this game. They've got a very good chance of still winning this game, but they should be able to be ruthless and get that 350, 360 because they're good enough," Kevin Pietersen said on Star Sports.
When questioned about whether Joe Root could have been the one to score a century for England, Pietersen defended Root, arguing that he shouldn't be criticized for his dismissal on 69 runs. Pietersen pointed out that Root had the difficult task of batting through the challenging middle overs of the innings.
"Duckett did. Should it have been Duckett? Could it have been Duckett? Yeah, absolutely. Root is quality. I'm not gonna for one second, stand here and start saying, 'Joe Root, Joe Root, Joe Root.' I'm only gonna talk about how good he is and how great he is, because at the end of the day, without Root, goodness me, where would we be? So he turns up, he misses out the other evening, he wasn't gonna miss out tonight. And I know. Having spent a lot of time with Root, he burns, and that will absolutely kill him that he's got out for 60. I'm not so sure getting out for 60 burns the other players," he added.
Pietersen continued by stating that all successful ODI teams have batsmen capable of anchoring an innings. He cited the 2019 ODI World Cup-winning team as an example, noting that even with their aggressive style of play, they still had players who could score centuries. He then criticised the philosophy of Brendon McCullum's England side, which has often emphasised entertaining the crowd.
"I'm disappointed that now in the last couple of games, no one's gone on to get a big, big, big score. When you have a look at the great one-day sides and you have a look at the side that played for England a number of years ago, and went on to win a World Cup, batters got hundreds, batters got big runs, and I think that there's a level of comfort in this England team that everything's just gonna be okay. And we're gonna play a brand of cricket that we're excited to play. We're going to be a team that everybody wants to watch. But I think there comes a point when you've actually got to sit the guys down and say, 'Playing for England, you need responsibility and you need to understand and accept that there are consequences for not winning matches. You need to win games of cricket.' I know as an England player, now as an England fan, and having been in the England dressing room for a number of years, the fans want to win. End of story. They don't care how you win, they just want you to win," Pietersen signed off.
Earlier, England posted a challenging total of 304 in 49.5 overs. After winning the toss and electing to bat first, England's openers, Phil Salt and Ben Duckett, once again provided a solid foundation. Duckett was particularly impressive, scoring 65 runs off 56 balls with 10 boundaries. Joe Root, returning to ODIs after a considerable absence, contributed a well-crafted 69 runs.
Useful contributions also came from Liam Livingstone (41), Jos Buttler (34), and Harry Brook (31). For India, Ravindra Jadeja was the standout bowler, taking three wickets for just 35 runs in his 10 overs, which included a maiden over.
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