ENG vs IND: 'India's Ferocity Took Us By Surprise' - England White-Ball Coach Matthew Mott After T20I Series Loss

England white-ball team coach Matthew Mott said that he was surprised by the aggressive intent shown by the Indian team in the recent T20I series which the home side lost 2-1. This comes after England barely managed to win the third and final match in Nottingham, despite making 215 runs batting first.

The home side had been bowled out for 148 and 121 in Buttler’s first two matches as their full-time limited-overs captain on Thursday and Saturday, losing by 50 and 49 runs respectively.

However, Buttler batted first after winning the toss in Nottingham, with Dawid Malan making 77 and Liam Livingstone making 46* to post 215/7 in 20 overs.

Then England reduced India to 31/3 and weathered a storm by Suryakumar Yadav, who made 117 with 14 fours and 6 sixes to win the match by 17 runs to avoid a clean sweep in the T20I series.

The Ferocity Of It Took Us By Surprise A Little Bit: Matthew Mott On India’s Attacking Intent In T20Is

Mott, their new white-ball coach, admitted they had been taken aback by the “ferocity” of India’s new attacking gameplan.

“We learned a lot of lessons in the first two games. India obviously came out with a really attacking mindset and put us under pressure a lot. We expected that, but the ferocity of it took us by surprise a little bit.

After the second loss and the series loss, I thought he [Buttler] spoke exceptionally well in the group about these being the times where you learn about character.

“It’s easy when you’re dominating teams but we’re going to learn more about ourselves playing great teams like India and South Africa leading into a World Cup – we’re going to learn more about what we need in Australia when we’re put under pressure,” Mott was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

Mott expects to have something approaching a full-strength squad available for the three T20Is against South Africa from July 27-31. They will be the final games England plays before naming their T20 World Cup squad in mid-September.

“I don’t think [the World Cup squad] is all locked in yet. This far out, you’ve got so many things that could happen – whether it’s injuries or form, or whatever.

“We’ve got a fair idea of what we think the right make-up is, but you want players to come in and perform and really warrant that spot. It’s still open for a lot of players and that’s why we are having looks at different combinations and trying to learn,” he added.

England will now face India in a series of 3 ODIs, beginning from July 12 at the Oval.

Also Read: ENG vs IND: The Manner In Which Suryakumar Yadav Was Playing, India Should Have Won The Match – Virender Sehwag