Harry Brook lauded coach Brendon McCullum for his role in England’s first one-day international series victory over India since 2018 following an entertaining 27-run win at Lord’s on Sunday.
McCullum was sacked as Test coach following England’s recent 2-1 home defeat by New Zealand that culminated in the international retirement of red-ball captain Ben Stokes.
But the former New Zealand skipper remained in charge of England’s white-ball teams and has overseen a 4-0 T20 series whitewash of world champions India, which was followed Sunday by a win that secured a 2-1 success in a three-match ODI series.
Ben Duckett’s dominant 141 was the cornerstone of England’s 387-3, a new record for the highest total in an ODI at Lord’s, with fellow opener Jacob Bethell making 91.
Joe Root’s 74 not out was his third fifty of the series, with Jos Buttler’s dashing unbeaten 41 off just 13 balls making a crucial difference to the outcome.
Rohit Sharma, amid speculation this could be his last match before retiring from international duty kept the tourists in the game with a brilliant 138 — the first ODI century by an India batsman at Lord’s — and Virat Kohli weighed in with 74.
– ‘Quick chat’ –
But England captain Brook’s decision to turn to Bethell’s part-time spin proved inspired with the Barbados-born youngster bowling Sharma on a day of tributes to his mentor Garry Sobers, the outstanding West Indies’ all-rounder who died on Friday.
“That was a tough little period, they (India) were obviously getting ahead of the game and playing really well,” said Brook, who praised the much-criticised McCullum’s tactical input.
“I decided to go off for an over and have a quick chat with Baz to gather his thoughts. Again, it comes back to the communication which has been outstanding throughout the T20s, throughout the ODIs.
“They have a slightly different view from up there, with the TVs and analytic work and going up there to have a quick chat to see what we could do.
He said, ‘have a go with Beth, a slightly different spinner to what we’ve got with him driving it into the pitch,’ and thankfully it came off.”
Brook has previously said he would have no qualms about succeeding Stokes as Test captain, although he accepted Sunday it would be “tough” to lead in all three international formats ahead of a 2027 when a home Ashes series is followed by an ODI World Cup in South Africa.
He added: “That’s not my decision. Whoever is the new coach will have that decision to make. It would be tough to do it, but I’m not saying it is impossible. If I get asked, we’ll see where it takes us.”
India captain Shubman Gill rued Buttler’s blistering late assault but swerved questions about Sharma’s international future by saying: “He has not told us anything. I think it is all out in the media, but there has not been any discussions internally.”
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