Sir Ian Botham has no faith in England. England comprehensively lost to India in the second ODI and Sir Ian Botham has rubbished their chances of winning the 2015 World Cup.
Botham referred to England's batting performance, in particular against the spin bowling of India as "Clueless" and certainly does not register any faith in the team's chances at the World Cup.
At the Swalec Stadium, England could only muster a measly total of 161 runs and Alastair Cook's side suffered a 133-run defeat to India, who are currently the reigning world champions at the one-day format.
India's spin bowlers took the game to the toothless England batting line-up and Ravindra Jadeja (4-28), Ravichandran Ashwin (2-38) and Suresh Raina (1-12) took seven wickets between them.
The Sky Sports pundit had to watch India rack up a total of 304-6 in their 50 overs before toppling a far from potent batting performance from England and Botham believes their frailties with the bat will ultimately cost them in New Zealand and Australia this Winter.
Beefy's comments
Botham said: "We have absolutely no chance of winning the World Cup as on the evidence I’ve seen here we are miles behind the rest,”
"We had batsmen not scoring and too many dot balls and we have three of the top four batters – Cook, Ian Bell and Joe Root – all scoring at around the same pace, around mid-70s."
“Most other countries have rates in the high 80s or 90s and that’s what wins you games, as India showed by recovering from 19-2 after eight overs to amass over 300."
“India also knew that all they needed to do was bring on the spinners to make England look absolutely clueless and that’s what happened, something we saw in Australia and something we see everywhere we go."
“We also didn’t have the discipline to keep the opposition under pressure when we had them in all kinds of trouble when we were bowling."
“We have a hell of a long way to go as it was the same old story with us getting behind the eight ball and not recovering.”
Further thoughts
Botham also went on to discuss the inclusion of Chris Jordan in the England bowling attack, his strange grip on the ball worries the 58-year-old who feels that Steven Finn would give England a more reliable option.
Jordan went on to bowl 12 wides during his spell as he registered figures of 10 overs for 73 runs.
One of the only positives to be taken from the second ODI contest was the performance of Alex Hales, who managed 40 runs off 63 deliveries.
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