Former India international Sanjay Manjrekar has asserted that England's 'bravado' cannot be allowed to continue by head coach Brendon McCullum.
England wrapped up their Champions Trophy campaign on Sunday against South Africa, choosing to bat first in Karachi with no hope of qualifying for the semi-finals.
Match 11, South Africa vs England
vs
- Ball by ball Over
They lost Phil Salt and Jamie Smith within the first three overs, before a 62-run stand between Joe Root and Harry Brook resurrected the innings. But once Brook fell, England started to slide – eventually going from 99-3 to 179 all out. Root top-scored with 37, and No.9 Jofra Archer was second with 25.
Manjrekar: I don't know how McCullum is going to review this performance
During the mid-game show on JioHotstar, former India international Sanjay Manjrekar was scathing in his criticism of England's performance against South Africa, and their general approach to the 50-over format of late.
Read more: South Africa lose stand-in captain to injury during first innings against England
"It's just almost embarrassing to see everybody go out there," he said. "I mean, your team is struggling, you've got 3 or 4 wickets down. 50 overs is a long format now. Everyone still comes in and wants to play shots and I don't know how Brendon McCullum is now going to review this performance.
"Because in the end if they feel they have the license to play in this fashion, and there's going to be no reprimand or no action taken by dropping...Liam Livingstone has been batting like this for a while and hasn't got a run in India as well. He failed [in the previous series] and in this tournament, but if he keeps getting picked, that's almost like an endorsement of that particular approach. So I just feel that they need to look at that."
'This is what nervous people do – this is bravado'
Manjrekar then touched upon what he perceived as 'bravado' from England: "You know, he's a nervous guy. I think Jofra as well is a nervous character. Liam Livingstone with the bat in his hand is a nervous character, maybe not so much with the ball, and this is what nervous people do – this is bravado. This is trying to show that, you know, 'I'm an attacking player'.
"They've got a smile on their faces hiding the true fact. People like Joe Root are the ones who are showing character, but just by attacking, you can't try and convince everyone that, 'I'm a very positive thinker'. You just got to find a way to get runs and more consistently, the better for the side."
This match is Jos Buttler's final game in charge of the ODI team, after the captain stepped down from his post yesterday. At the time of writing, South Africa were 29-1 in 4.2 overs.
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
