Thaindian News

Kolkata, Oct 26 (IANS) After going down by 95 runs to India in the fifth and last ODI to finish on the wrong side of a 5-0 whitewash, England captain Alastair Cook Tuesday blamed his side’s poor batting.

“Bit of a shock. We batted really badly. We looked set for win after being 129 without loss. But we lost too many wickets quickly, as it happened in every game,” Cook said after the Eden Gardens game.

Cruising at 129/0, with Cook (60) and Craig Kieswetter (63) going great guns, England suddenly caved in and were all out only 47 runs later.

“Our batting has not been good at all. Not sure why, may be due to inexpereince,” said the bewildered Cook.

He said the balls did not come easily to the bat as it does in England. “Someone needed to play really well. Once you begin losing wickets, it is not easy to stem the rot.”

Referring to his side drubbing India 4-0 in the Test series and 3-0 in the one-dayers in England between June and September, Cook said: “It was the same team that had handled pressure so well just a few days ago.”

However, he said the alien conditions in India made his boys struggle. “Lot of the guys have been in such conditions for the first time. India too struggled in our conditions and similarly we have done so in theirs.”

Asked to name the cricketers who troubled his team in the series, Cook said: “Virat (Kohli), (M.S.) Dhoni and (Suresh) Raina harassed us a lot.”

Asked whether his team was taking anything positive from the series, Cook said: “It was a great experience for youngsters. They need to improve and we all need to improve. There have been a few positives out of this series, Steven Finn’s bowling for example,”

“We still bowled well in these conditions at least for 30-35 overs. But then M.S. Dhoni and Raina probably took the game away from us,” he said.