England one-dimensional team at World Cup, says Pakistan cricketer Salman Butt

England faced their second consecutive loss in the ICC World Cup 2019 on Tuesday when they slumped to a 64-run defeat to holders Australia. Having elected to bowl first, England allowed their opponents to score 285 for 7 but were all out for 221 while chasing. They lost to Sri Lanka by 20 runs in the previous game and now have to win their remaining two matches against India and New Zealand, both of whom are undefeated in the World Cup at the moment.

The much-famed England batting line-up has failed to overhaul totals three times so far and questions are being raised over its repeated failure. Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt is of the opinion that Eoin Morgan’s side is a one-dimensional one playing in the 2019 World Cup. He called it a “very one particular surface oriented unit” that “just refuse to adapt”.

In his view, only Joe Root and Ben Stokes stood out while the rest is almost the same. Butt’s tweet was also unique for he made an apology at the very beginning knowing that his viewpoint could invite a backlash from upset England fans. He acknowledged that his observations might hurt some English fans.

Here is Salman Butt’s tweet:

Sorry in advance if this hurts some English fans but my observation is if there ever was a one dimensional team it’s this @ECB_cricket . Just refuse to adapt . Very one particular surface oriented unit . Only @root66 and @benstokes38 standout rest almost the same .

— Salman Butt (@im_SalmanButt) June 25, 2019

Butt, who is known for the notorious series in England in 2010 which was hit by the fixing scandal and got banned for years subsequently, never played in a World Cup in his short ODI career spanning less than six years. He has made over 5,000 runs in international cricket with 11 hundreds.

England have faltered while chasing targets

Coming to England’s increasingly disappointing show at the World Cup, their batting has been hurt by the absence of an injured Jason Roy and a batsman who can play a sheet-anchor role. The team looked to have too many hitters who found themselves under pressure when chasing targets, even not so steep ones.

Their gallant chase against Pakistan was still something to be proud about but Morgan’s men left their fans extremely disappointed with the lack of applications in the matches against Sri Lanka and Australia. The team was heavily reliant on Ben Stokes to bail them out each time and the expectations were not fulfilled.

England’s defeat against Australia now have opened up opportunities for Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan to make the last four. The World Cup is turning into a very interesting affair now although for the hosts, time seems to be running out all of a sudden.