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England suffered an embarrassing 3-0 ODI series defeat and 4-1 T20I series defeat at the hands of India in their recently-concluded tour, and legendary India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has launched a scathing criticism on them. In particular, Ashwin expressed disappointment at how lightly England seemingly took the series, and also emphasized his disapproval of excuses used by England following their defeats. In particular, England opener Ben Duckett came under the hammer from Ashwin after he'd said that they don't mind losing the series 3-0 as long as England beat India in the Champions Trophy.
"If we lose 3-0 to India, I don't care as long as we beat them in the final in the Champions Trophy. No one will probably look back on this series if we go and do the business in that competition," Duckett had said after the 3-0 ODI series defeat.
Ashwin sharply responded to Duckett's statements.
"No matter what Ben Duckett says, going into the Champions Trophy this series loss will create a big dent to their confidence," Ashwin said, speaking on his YouTube channel.
"Ben Duckett has said similar things in the past too, saying Yashasvi Jaiswal has learnt to play aggressive cricket from England's Bazball style. I know Ben Duckett and his penchant for humour, but this was no joke and it is like you are hiding your failures behind humour," Ashwin added.
Ashwin also criticized the fact that England players seem to look for excuses after a series defeat. He also stated that the England team has been in a slump for a fair while now.
"Your 2023 ODI World Cup was pretty bad as well. It isn't like they are in bad form over 2-3 months. It has been the case for four years now. Despite having such a talented group they are not able to justify their potential," Ashwin stated.
"Even in Test cricket, I read somewhere a few days ago that Ben Stokes said that he doesn't understand the points system of the WTC. My only advice to him is that if you don't understand the points system, then first go and understand it. This is not a joke. Every time you lose, you bring up such lame excuses," Ashwin said.
England will face Australia, South Africa and Afghanistan in what is expected to be a closely-fought group in the Champions Trophy 2025. England finished behind all three nations at the 2023 World Cup.