'They're living in an illusion' - Virender Sehwag takes a jibe at England after crushing series defeat

Former India opener Virender Sehwag took a jibe at England following their 1-4 loss against India in the five-match Test series on Saturday, March 09. The Ben Stokes-led side lost their fourth consecutive game as they were bundled out for 195 on Day 3 in reply to India’s massive first-innings lead of 259 runs and lost the game by a massive margin of an innings and 64 runs.

Following their humiliating defeat, Sehwag launched a scathing attack on Ben Stokes and his side calling their ‘Bazball’ style of play ‘madness’. The former opening batter even highlighted Stokes’ poor form and stated that the entire team is living in an illusion.

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“Bazball, Batti Gull. There needs to be a method to madness. England simply didn’t have the game to match and looked clueless particularly after the second test match. The captain failing miserably only added to their woes and they simply looked like living in an illusion. For this method to succeed, there needs to be a method to madness, which England severely lacked,” wrote Sehwag on X.

Notably, the England captain didn’t have a memorable series scoring just 199 runs from ten innings at an average of 19.9 with one fifty to his name. He started the tour well with a knock of 70 in the first Test in Hyderabad but failed to replicate his success in the remaining games. With the ball, he only bowled in the fifth Test in Dharamsala and picked the prized scalp of Indian captain Rohit Sharma(103) giving away 17 runs in five overs.

The England batters capitulated time and again against the Indian bowling and failed to take control of the game time at crucial stages. Hence, they succumbed to their first loss under the leadership of Captain Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum.

England languishing on ninth spot in WTC points table

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In the ongoing World Test Championship cycle (2023-25) they find themselves languishing on the second last spot (eighth) with three wins from ten matches having a points percentage of 17.5%. England have four series remaining in the current cycle with two at home against Sri Lanka and West Indies and two away against New Zealand and Pakistan. The Ben Stokes-led side will have to play out of their skin in their remaining games to keep their hopes of qualifying for the final alive.