England completed a decisive 4-0 series sweep with a thumping 56-run victory in the fifth and final Twenty20 International, played in Southampton on Saturday. India skipper Shreyas Iyer acknowledged that his team failed to adjust to changing conditions at each venue.
Rain forced the cancellation of the first game at Chester-Le-Street, Durham.
Even though the surface was the greatest batting pitch of the series, India never recovered from losing wickets in clusters while chasing a formidable mark after England scored a dominant 257/3.
“We have a lot to take out of the series. Conditions, awareness, adaptation. This was the best wicket we played on, the approach was different when we batted. Conditions kept changing from match one. We need to be aware and adapt as professionals,” PTI quoted Iyer as saying during the post-match presentation.
The captain cited careless fielding and the incapacity to form partnerships during the chase as examples of India’s inadequacies.
“Important to communicate what we could have done better. Fielding plays a key role and we need to work on it. Especially overseas, with different dimensions in grounds. We dropped catches which cost us. 220-225 we might’ve chased down but not to be.”
Iyer talked about losing wickets in a heap.
“We lost wickets in clusters. We were going after the chase rather than building partnerships. We have to target bowlers, take time. Their execution was spot on. Buttler was sensational, Brook changed the momentum. That partnership steadied the ship.”
England’s innings was anchored by a match-winning 233-run partnership between captain Harry Brook and Jos Buttler, a stand that effectively batted India out of the contest.
Brook, who was also named Player of the Series, expressed his delight at England’s clinical all-round performance, which completed a clean sweep of the series and propelled the hosts to the No. 1 spot in the T20I rankings.
“We had a lot of fun. Ran well, hit boundaries and complemented each other. We were just trying to get ourselves to get in the best position we could. Cricket is a simple game we complicate. Just watched the ball and played the best shot for it. I’m striking the ball nicely,” he said on his unbeaten 95 that came off 45 balls.
Additionally, he was thrilled that England is currently the top side in the ICC T20I standings.
“We’ve got ourselves to World No. 1, which was a game after a couple of games. All boys are delighted and we deserve to celebrate.”
Brook also praised his spinners, who outperformed their Indian counterparts.
“You’ve to create pace on the ball while hitting. We have spinners with nous and have the ability to make batters think. We’ve bowled a lot of spin and they’ve been exceptional. We’ve communicated really well in the last 12 months and we’ve executed things really well.”
Player of the Match Buttler commended the team effort that led to England’s commanding series victory and was happy to regain his form after a difficult run.
“Delighted. Had a lean patch for a bit. Happy to be back to my best,” said Buttler after his career-best 64-ball-131.
“Always feel it was due. Felt good about my game in the IPL, something about putting on the England shirt.”
He commended captain Brook for applying pressure on opposing bowlers.
“Harry’s incredible, puts incredible pressure on bowlers. Gotta give yourself time, belief and trust in your game. We were going for as many as possible. We got twos on this big ground which helped construct big overs. Good pitch too, we needed the runs too.”
Buttler described the series victory as a fantastic team effort.
“Great team performance, to win 4-0 against India is a big achievement. Different players have made great contributions across disciplines, which is the most pleasing thing for the guys,” he said.
