England may have been the reigning world champions in both 50-over and T20 cricket as recently as two years ago, but they head into the Champions Trophy facing an uphill struggle to reach the semi-finals. They suffered seven defeats in eight white-ball games during their preceding tour of India, culminating in a crushing 142-run loss in the third one-day international in Ahmedabad. That result condemned England to a 3-0 series whitewash, after their 4-1 reverse in the T20s.

Accusations of laziness from India great Ravi Shastri and ex-England batsman Kevin Pietersen may be unfair, but the side have now lost more ODIs since their 2019 World Cup triumph than they have won — 32 to 29, with 10 defeats in their last 14.

In England’s favour is that the pitches in Pakistan, where they face Australia in their Champions Trophy opener in Lahore on Saturday, are set to be more to the liking of both their batsmen and fast bowlers than the spin-friendly surfaces in India.

To reach the last four of the eight-team Champions Trophy ODI tournament, Jos Buttler‘s men must finish in the top two of a group that also contains Afghanistan and South Africa — both of whom beat England during their woeful title defence in the 2023 World Cup in India.

The recent India campaign was England’s first since Test coach Brendon McCullum also took charge of the white-ball teams.

Former New Zealand captain McCullum enjoyed initial success as England’s red-ball boss, although the team have since failed to qualify for the World Test Championship final at Lord’s in June.

‘Always optimistic’

Many of the criticisms levelled against England’s Test cricket under McCullum have now been applied to the limited-overs teams.

The all-format charge sheet against England includes struggle against quality spin and express fast bowling, while their only response when an aggressive ‘Plan A’ fails appears to be simply to ‘go harder’ rather than adapt to the evolving match conditions.

McCullum however was typically bullish following defeat in Ahmedabad, saying: “You know what I’m like. Always optimistic. If you go the other way, you’ve got no chance, right? I have belief in us.”

But whether white-ball skipper Buttler remains the right man to oversee an England revamp is an open question.

It was limited-overs coach Matthew Mott who lost his job following England’s lacklustre defence of their T20 World Cup last year.

Nothing that has happened since suggests Buttler is providing the charismatic or tactical leadership to inspire England.

The dynamic batsman, speaking after the India ODI series, said: “I think the fact we’re not anywhere near our potential yet or playing individually or collectively where we know we can be gives us something to look forward to, believe we can get there and be a dangerous team in the Champions Trophy.”

Dashing England opener Ben Duckett has at least been passed fit for the tournament following a groin injury but rising star Jacob Bethell has been ruled out with a hamstring problem.

Meanwhile, England’s attack — which once featured at least one left-arm paceman — is set to be an all-right-arm affair spearheaded by express quicks Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, with much depending on leg-spinner Adil Rashid.

Encouragingly for England, arch-rivals Australia will be without key players in fast bowlers Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc.

They too have just been thrashed, with Sri Lanka inflicting a mammoth 174-run loss upon Australia in the second ODI in Colombo.

Team India have taken a 2-0 lead in the five-match T20I series against England, after a thrilling victory in the second game at Chennai. England’s batting did not fare well once again, with most batters apart from Jos Buttler failing to contribute big. Many of these England stars are also going to be playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season, and their poor form will be a point of concern for their IPL sides. In particular, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) – who have three English batters – will be worried.

Phil Salt, Liam Livingstone and Jacob Bethell are all set to turn out for Virat Kohli‘s RCB in IPL 2025, but the batters have fared poorly so far in the ongoing T20I series. This was pointed out by former India cricketer-turned-pundit Aakash Chopra.

“Arshdeep (Singh) dismisses Phil Salt in any case. Salt got out and then Liam Livingstone got out, and I was reminded of RCB again,” Chopra said, speaking on his YouTube channel.

Salt has fallen prey to Arshdeep in the first over of both T20Is, managing 0 and 4 respectively. One of IPL 2024’s standout openers, Salt has lost a bit of form.

Livingstone also scored a duck in the first T20I and only scored 13 in the second. Meanwhile, Jacob Bethell was dropped for the second game, after scoring only 7 runs in the first.

As a result, RCB will be concerned regarding the form of their overseas stars, with IPL 2025 less than two months away.

Chopra also criticised Harry Brook, who had earlier stated that the smog in Kolkata had blurred his eyesight.

“What AQI excuse do you give, the England guys should feel ashamed. Harry Brook said after the last match that he couldn’t see the ball due to smog. The ball was visible this time but it still hit his stumps. It was a short ball, you played on the front foot and it hit your stumps. You are unable to read the ball from the hand,” Chopra said.

Brook also got out for 13, once again being dismissed by Varun Chakravarthy.

IND vs ENG 1st T20I LIVE Streaming© AFP

Indian wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul, who scored a superb 77 in India’s second innings in the Perth Test, was sold to Delhi Capitals for Rs 14 crore at the Indian Premier League 2025 Mega Auction, at the Abadi Al Johar Arena on Sunday. A fierce bidding war for Rahul, starting at a base price of Rs 2 crore. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) led the initial charge, taking the bid past Rs 10 crore. RCB eventually bowed out at Rs 10.75 crore, but Delhi Capitals (DC) entered at Rs 11 crore. KKR and DC traded rapid bids before KKR stepped back at Rs 12 crore. Just when it seemed DC had secured Rahul, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) jumped in, pushing the price to Rs 14 crore.

Ultimately, DC prevailed over other bidders, with Lucknow Super Giants opting not to use their RTM.

LSG let go of their captain Rahul, thus ending their three-year association with the right-handed batter, and ended up signing Rishabh Pant for Rs 27 crore, making him the most expensive player in IPL history. Pooran is their biggest retention at Rs 21 crore, followed by Ravi Bishnoi and Mayank Yadav at Rs 11 crore each. They also retained Badoni and Mohsin Khan for Rs 4 crore each.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore bought Liam Livingstone for Rs 8.75 crore, making him the franchise’s first buy of the 2025 auction. With a base price of Rs 2 crore, RCB and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) opened the bidding. SRH exited early, but the competition heated up as Delhi Capitals (DC) entered the fray, challenging RCB in a battle that pushed the bid past Rs 6 crore.

Just as RCB seemed poised to win, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) entered at Rs 7 crore, sparking a new round of intense bidding. The two teams traded bids, driving Livingstone’s price to Rs 8.75 crore. Eventually, CSK bowed out, leaving RCB victorious.

Punjab Kings, Livingstone’s previous team, chose not to exercise their Right to Match (RTM), clearing the way for his move to RCB. Livingstone’s signing adds a powerful finisher and versatile bowler to RCB’s arsenal, making him a key addition for the upcoming season.

West Indies, led by explosive half centuries from openers Shai Hope and Evin Lewis, chased down a target of 219 to beat England with an over to spare to win by five wickets in their T20I on Saturday. The game was a dead rubber with England having already won the opening three matches of the five-match series but the crowd at the Darren Sammy Cricket Ground were treated to some high-scoring entertainment as West Indies enjoyed their second highest successful run chase in T20Is.

England openers Phil Salt and Will Jacks put on 54 runs for the first wicket before Alzarri Joseph got Jacks caught behind off the final ball of the fifth over.

But Salt continued to take full advantage of a good batting track as he took England to 102 before he was removed by Roston Chase in the tenth over for 55 having his four sixes and five fours.

Skipper Jos Buttler hit 38 off 23 but it was an unbeaten 62 from Jacob Bethell and a useful 24 from 13 balls from Sam Curran that took England to a strong score.

West Indies top order has struggled in this series but this time Hope and Lewis attacked England from the outset, swiftly reduced the run-rate.

Hope brought up his 50 off 23 balls — slamming a short ball from Rehan Ahmed through midwicket to reach his half century.

Lewis, who had played a supporting role, went on the offensive hitting Liam Livingstone for three sixes in the eighth over and he too reached his half-century (26 balls) when he pulled Curran through square leg for four.

Rehan Ahmed finally got the breakthrough when Lewis mistimed a cover-drive to Dan Mousley, the West Indies opener departing for 68 including seven sixes with England in a commanding position at 136-1

With the next ball Hope departed, run out by Livingstone, and England picked up a third wicket in as many balls when Nicholas Pooran was bowled by Ahmed after finding the inside edge.

Suddenly, West Indies were 136-3 and with a new pair at the crease and England sensed the chance to turn the game around.

But skipper Rovman Powell showed no nerves as he hit 38 from 23 balls with three sixes before he was trapped lbw by John Turner.

Sharfane Rutherford saw the home side to a morale-boosting victory with his unbeaten 29 ending the contest by smashing Mousley for two sixes.

“Guys were more committed today,” said Powell. “It has been a series where you win the toss, win the game, but the guys played well — 3-2 is better than 4-1, still a lot to play for,” he said looking ahead to Sunday’s final game.

Despite the loss, Butler said he had few complaints about the performance.

“I thought it was an excellent wicket. We got off to a great start with Jacks and Salty. Thought we needed at least 220. They played exceptionally well, put us under pressure. I thought we played well, put up a good score and they played well to chase it down,” he said.

Jos Buttler‘s rampaging 83 powered England to an emphatic seven-wicket victory over the West Indies in the second match of their T20I series at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Sunday. Responding to the home side’s total of 158 for eight, the visiting captain took the match by the scruff of the neck in belting eight fours and six sixes off only 45 balls to turn a potentially challenging target into a romp. The tourists reached 161 for three off just 14.4 overs to take a 2-0 lead heading into the final three matches of the duel in St. Lucia starting next Thursday.

Coming to the crease off just the second ball of the innings after Phil Salt, the century-making match-winner of Saturday’s first match, had fallen first ball to spinner Akeal Hosein, Buttler wasted little time in setting about a West Indies bowling attack missing suspended pacer Alzarri Joseph, injured fast-bowling all-rounder Andre Russell and fielding debutant seamer Terrance Hinds who endured a baptism of fire against a rampant Buttler.

A second T20I hundred looked his for the taking but after being badly dropped by Sherfane Rutherford at extra-cover off Romario Shepherd in the 13th over, the England skipper fell next ball as another attempted heave over the top found his West Indies counterpart, Rovman Powell at long-off.

Buttler inevitably dominated a second-wicket stand of 129 with Will Jacks, who contributed 38 off 29 balls with five fours and one six.

“It was scratchy for the first couple of balls but when I got going I really enjoyed it. It was great to be back out there,” said Buttler on receiving the “Man of the Match” award

Jacks was the first of two wickets for Shepherd, taken at second attempt at long-off by Matthew Forde, who had earlier played his part together with the rest of the West Indies lower-order to give the innings useful late impetus after they were put in to bat on a surface freshened by steady rain throughout the early morning.

Powell top-scored with 43 off 41 balls (two fours, two sixes) but his demise in the 16th over left the innings in trouble at 102 for six. Shepherd’s 22 off 12 balls breathed some late life into the home side’s effort with the support of the tail.

Liam Livingstone was the best of the bowlers with two for 16 and was there at the end to seal victory with an unbeaten 23 off 11 balls.

However nothing could take the shine off Buttler’s assault which leaves the tourists well-poised to avenge a 2-1 loss to the West Indies in the preceding ODI series.

Evin Lewis smashed a scintillating 94 as West Indies routed England by eight wickets in a rain-hit one-day international on Thursday. Lewis blasted an undefeated century to defeat Sri Lanka in Pallekele on Saturday and carried on where he left off against a new-look England in the first of a three-game series. After dismissing England for just 209, the West Indies raced to 81-0 in 15 overs when rain brought a lengthy delay at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium. Set an adjusted target of 157 from 35 overs, the 32-year-old Lewis hit England’s attack to all parts of the ground, making his runs off just 69 balls.

His innings included five fours and eight huge sixes after dominating an opening stand of 118 with Brandon King (30).

Lewis’s hopes of completing a sixth ODI century were thwarted however when he was caught by Jacob Bethell off Adil Rashid with just 13 runs needed for victory.

In the end, Keacy Carty (19) and skipper Shai Hope (six) saw the West Indies comfortably home with 55 balls to spare.

Rashid’s one wicket cost him 50 runs from seven overs.

Victory for the West Indies came just five days after they defeated Sri Lanka with 10 of the team which featured in that victory 15,000km away named in Thursday’s line-up.

Put in to bat, England, who featured four new ODI caps in Jordan Cox, Dan Mousley, Jamie Overton and John Turner, were bowled out for 209 in the 46th over.

Captain Liam Livingstone led the way with 48 from 49 balls, hitting three fours and two sixes.

Livingstone, standing in as skipper for the injured Jos Buttler, was supported by Sam Curran whose 37 occupied 56 balls.

For the West Indies, left-arm off-spinner Gudakesh Motie took 4-41 from his 10 overs with Jayden Seales the pick of the fast bowlers with 2-22 from eight overs.

Both his victims were the openers Phil Salt (18) and Will Jacks (19).

The second game of the three-match series will be staged at the same venue on Saturday with the final clash set for Barbados next Wednesday.

The two sides will also contest a five-game Twenty20 International series.

A final over blitz by England all-rounder Liam Livingstone helped him tie with legendary English icon Andrew Flintoff for most sixes during an innings at Lord’s in ODIs. Livingstone achieved this record during the fourth ODI against Australia at Lord’s on Friday. He scored a commendable 62* in just 27 balls. His knock included three fours and seven sixes. His runs came at a strike rate of 229.63. His knock also included the brutality unleashed on Australia’s premier pacer Mitchell Starc, whose final over, the 39th and final over of the rain-hit game, was hit for four sixes and a four, giving away a total of 28 runs.

Now, the all-rounder has tied with Flintoff, who also hit seven sixes to go along with eight fours during his knock of 123 in 129 balls against West Indies in 2004.

12 sixes by England during their innings are the most by a side during an ODI at Lord’s.

312 scored by England is their highest score against Australia at Lord’s.

Coming to the match, Australia won the toss and opted to field first.

England started off with a fine 48-run opening stand between Phil Salt (22 in 27 balls, with three fours) and Ben Duckett. After a brief stumble, skipper Harry Brook recorded a 79-run partnership with Duckett (63 in 62 balls, with six fours and a six) and a 75-run partnership with Jamie Smith (39 in 28 balls, with a four and two sixes). Brook missed out on a well-deserved second-successive ODI ton, scoring 87 in 58 balls, with 11 fours and a six.

Liam Livingstone (62* in 27 balls, with three fours and seven sixes) provided some brilliant finishing touches, smashing Mitchell Starc for 28 runs as England scored 312/5 in their 39 overs.

Adam Zampa (2/66) was the pick of the bowlers. Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, and Josh Hazlewood got a wicket each.

In the run-chase, openers Travis Head (34 in 23 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) and skipper Marsh (28 in 34 balls, with two fours and a six) provided a fine start with a 68-run stand. However, after their partnership was broken, it was all downhill for Australia, who was skittled out for 126 in 24.4 overs, thanks to brilliant spells from Matthew Potts (4/38) and Brydon Carse (3/36). England levelled the five-match series 2-2 with a 186-run win.

Brook secured the ‘Player of the Match’ award.