Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir commented on England's eight-wicket loss to Sri Lanka in the ICC World Cup 2023 saying that the English side looked "disinterested".
England have lost four out of five matches with their only win coming against Bangladesh in Dharamshala on October 10, but since then, Jos Buttler's men have been a constant disappointment in the World Cup.
Gambhir believes that the body language of the English players in the match against Sri Lanka was unsatisfactory since the start as it seemed like the defending champions were disinterested.
“Combination of the two. England's body language from the start was as though they were extremely disinterested. You cannot bat in just one way. There isn't even one batter in this entire batting unit who wants to grind. There is a difference between being able to do it and wanting to do it,” said Gambhir.
He then added that a lot of players from the English team were playing for their reputation and labelled them "extremely selfish".
“A lot of players say that this is their style and it's up to you whether you select them or not. It means you are extremely selfish. Selfishness does not have any role in a team sport. It seemed like everyone was playing for their reputation and not for the country,” Gambhir added.
It must be noted that following their loss against Sri Lanka, England were demoted to the ninth position in the World Cup points with a negative -1.63 net run rate (NRR) and they have one step out of the mega event.
None of the names like Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Buttler, Harry Brook stepped up for their side and failed badly in successive matches.
The defending champions will now take on the hosts India, who are in-form and have not yet lost a match in the tournament, on October 29 in Lucknow.
Buttler's men would need to register big-margin wins in their remaining matches and also have to pray that other results go their way if they want to play the knockout stage.