England Test coach Brendon McCullum wants the team to be smarter with their comments after a series defeat against India. However, Rohit Sharma’s side thrashed England by an innings and 64 runs at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala to win the five-match Test series 4-1 as well. With this, McCullum suffered his first-ever Test series defeat as England head coach.

Speaking to The Telegraph, McCullum said, “We do have belief within our group. It has taken a bit of a hit over the last couple of weeks. We have to be smarter with those comments. It is fine to inwardly believe what you can achieve but just be a bit smarter around how we say things sometimes.”

Meanwhile, many criticised Duckett after he said that India’s opening batter Yashasvi Jaiswal, who finished as the leading run-scorer in the five-match series, was playing aggressive cricket because Bazball inspired him. However, Jaiswal became just the second Indian after the legendary Sunil Gavaskar to score over 700 runs in a bilateral Test series and was adjudged the ‘Player of the Series’ for his performances against England as well.

“But it is people growing up in the environment right. They are not the finished articles yet and surely they shouldn’t be hung for making a positive comment in the media that might be construed as arrogance. It is not arrogance, just confidence in the group,” Brendon McCullum further added.

Following this series defeat, England will play for the 2024 T20 World Cup, set to begin on June 2.