England cricket team seemed to have take a very light-hearted approach when it came to playing in Asia (Asian sub-continent). The founders of the game of cricket have tasted defeat in all three tournaments they played in Asia since the start of 2024, culminating with their exit from the Champions Trophy. With a loss to India, Pakistan in Tests series followed by their group stage exit from CT 2025, McCullum and co. have a tall task at hand to figure out how to effectively play to win in sub-continental conditions.
After all, the attitude of the teams across the series was as such that they were deliberately underestimating their opponents. Well, that surely didn’t work and has bitten them back in the worst way possible. What started with a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Rohit Sharma and co. ended with Buttler and co. being knocked out of Champions Trophy, thanks to Afghanistan who defeated them for the second time at an ICC event within two years.
Recapping England’s Asia nightmare
1-4 drubbing at the hands of India
It all started with the thrashing at the hands of India in the IND vs ENG Test series that commenced in January 2024. After beating the hosts by 28 runs in the 1st Test in Hyderabad, Stokes and co. went on to lose the remainder of the 4 Tests, resulting in a 1-4 drubbing. The worst part for the visitors was the margin by which they were defeated in.
- IND vs ENG 1st Test – England won by 28 runs
- IND vs ENG 2nd Test – India won by 106 runs
- IND vs ENG 3rd Test – India won by 434 runs
- IND vs ENG 4th Test – India won by 5 wickets
- IND vs ENG 5th Test – India won by an innings and 64 runs
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Pakistan end 3-year winless streak by humbling ENG
After the drubbing at the hands of India, England returned to the sub-continent for yet another Test series in October 2024. This time, they squared off against Pakistan. The hosts, who had not won a single Test series at home in 3 years until that point of time, miraculously managed to turn the tables on the visitors. After winning the first Test by an innings and 47 runs, England were simply trapped and outfoxed by Pakistan’s spin ploy. The result? Pakistan went on to seal the series by beating the visitors by a huge margin in the remainder of the two Tests.
- PAK vs ENG 1st Test: England won by an innings & 47 runs
- PAK vs ENG 2nd Test: Pakistan won by 152 runs
- PAK vs ENG 3rd Test: Pakistan won by 9 wickets
India humiliate England once again
As if the embarrasment in Tests wasn’t wnough, a confident England returned to India once again in 2025. This time, it was a white-ball contest. Once again, they suffered a 1-4 defeat at the hands of India, this time against Suryakumar Yadav and co. in T20Is. The only victory that Buttler and co. managed to salvage was in the 3rd T20I in Rajkot. What followed was devasation for the hosts. They were whitewash 0-3 by Rohit Sharma and boys, handing the visitors a setback just before the Champions Trophy. The words of Ben Duckett, who went on to claim that they wouldn’t mind losing 3-0 to India if they won the Champions Trophy, seems to have come back to bite them ultimately.
Final nail in the coffin ft. Champions Trophy
The final nail in England’s coffin was hammered by Afghanistan in Champions Trophy. Buttler & co. lost both the games they played in Pakistan. Despite registering the highest total in the history of the tournament, England went down to arch-rivals Australia by 5 wickets in their tournament opener. To add salt to the wounds, they were sent packing from the tournament after a 8-run loss to “minnows” Afghanistan.
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