Mumbai mauling shows McCullum has the tough challenge he wanted

Jos Buttler’s inability to play at Wankhede Stadium would be forgiven for it.

It was there that England’s 2023 50-over World Cup defence disintegrated in the Mumbai heat.

England’s white-ball cricket reached its lowest level since Adelaide’s miserable eight years prior, and bowlers were punished.

Since then, everything has been made in an effort to restore the magic that made Eoin Morgan famous.

On Sunday, Buttler returned 15 months later with his new-look side – but suffered a similarly miserable fate.

Two Mumbai defeats, both by record margins.

The man by Buttler’s side is what makes the heat aside the most obvious difference between the two days.

Buttler’s close friend Brendon McCullum, who has taken over as England white-ball coach almost three years after initially challenging him for the position, has taken over.

He initially declined the position, choosing instead to take over Ben Stokes’ Test side as a result.

In 2023, England’s destroyer was South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen.

He thrashed 109 from 67 balls as the Proteas scored 399-7 – the most England have ever conceded in a 50-over match.

Abhishek Sharma, the opener for India, became Mumbai’s most recent cricketing prince this time, striking a brutal 135 in front of the Duke of Edinburgh.

The erratic tactics and selections, another rehash of Mumbai 2023, must be shared by McCullum and even him with this defeat.

Abhishek’s hitting was stunning, a knock for the ages by a player given free rein by the management.

However, England extended his lead with a wide off-spin. The left-hander was able to free his arms and swing for the Himalayas.

During his 54 balls, he pummeled the straight boundaries and did not score a run between deep square legs or backwards.

And, while McCullum cannot make every decision from the sidelines, the fact England’s attack was packed with tall, hit-the-deck pacers lands at his door.

It was McCullum who dropped the likes of Matthew Potts plus left-armers Reece Topley and Sam Curran from his first squad, preferring a barrage of tall, right-arm pacers – Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Jamie Overton, Brydon Carse and Gus Atkinson.

Even though the series began with a triple-wicket maiden in Pune, Saqib Mahmood was oddly absent, and only Rehan Ahmed, a leg-spinner, played as a substitute fielder.

England’s towering quintet were bigged-up by McCullum as “guys who bowl absolute rockets”, who could fulfil his wish to entertain.

Despite the circumstances, McCullum knows as well as downtown Dunedin after his time in the Indian Premier League, the outcome was a one-dimensional attack that Abhishek fully exploited.

One of McCullum’s Test team’s biggest flaws is their inability to adapt.

The only blessing from Abhishek’s assault is that it distracted from England’s main issue throughout this series.

They look no closer to solving a spin conundrum that has dogged the Test team, Heather Knight’s Ashes pursuit and even an Under-19 World Cup campaign.

Across these five matches, they lost 29 wickets at an average of 14.20 average to India’s tweakers, losing a wicket every 11 balls.

An England batting line-up that looked batter-light throughout was the outcome.

Phil Salt and Ben Duckett haven’t quite bonded, like Duckett and Crawley, but Buttler faded after a strong start, and Jacob Bethell and Harry Brook had the most challenging series to date in an England shirt.

Overton has been a fearsome lower-order hitter in some circumstances in recent years and has done well at the death at times. He is not a top six man in India who is a shaky top six.

The result is predictable – calls for Joe Root’s T20 return have grown louder.

Many people contend that every band needs a drummer to keep the rhythm rolling while the rest of the band plays.

Root, though, has a lower T20 strike-rate than all of the batters in England’s current squad. Does the Yorkshireman have more pressing red-ball priorities and is he a T20 batter for Gen Z?

If England are to go back to their T20 past, they could do worse than recall Tom Banton.

Defeat will not change McCullum. Before this series, he claimed that the word “coach” is inappropriate to describe him.

Instead of dictating Brook and the coaching staff’s mindset, he will keep focusing on what his batters are thinking.

As the focus shifts to fine tuning before the Champions Trophy in Pakistan next month, India will welcome back its superstars, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, and co.

There England, on a three-series losing run in the 50-over format, will likely face another trial by spin with – bar the addition of Root – the very same players. It is already too late for England to change after they have shown their support.

After the Champions Trophy, a 10-month period will be all about Tests and England’s quest to regain the Ashes.

This defeat must stay in the hierarchy’s mind, however, as a T20 World Cup back in these conditions is only 12 months away.

Expecting a repeat of Bazball’s instant impact in the Test arena was always fanciful, given the opposition.