Alastair Cook speaks about the loss at Edgbaston
By Will Jackson
Alastair Cook has admitted his frustration after England succumbed to another heavy defeat at the hands of India in the fourth Royal London one-day international at Edgbaston.
Ajinkya Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan led the world champions to a nine-wicket win with over 19 overs to spare, as India took a 3-0 series lead with just one game to go.
Cook’s men were outclassed in all departments as they were bowled out for 206 before the India openers put on 183 for the first wicket to all but see the visitors to the finish line.
Speaking to ecb.co.uk, Cook said:“When we don’t play to our potential, you get found out in international cricket and that’s what is happening at the moment, it’s frustrating.
“We’ve got to keep working as hard as we can because it can turn around very quickly as we found in the Test matches.”
However the England skipper, who was one of the top-order batsmen to fail, refused to blame the pitch, after India won the toss and quickly reduced England to 23 for three inside the first 10 overs.
He said: “We were going to bat first, so you can’t use that (the pitch/toss) as an excuse. We maybe misread it a little bit but the toss is irrelevant. It’s all about how you bat, bowl and field and India, to their credit, have done that better than us.”
There was however some relief for England, with Moeen Ali impressing after coming into the side for Ben Stokes.
The left-hander top-scored with 67 and Cook was keen to praise the all-rounder: “He played beautifully, in an unfamiliar role down the order and he struck the ball well, hit the big shots when he needed to and we found out a bit more about him.”
With one ODI left this summer, the England skipper was keen to stress that there was plenty at stake: “We’ve got a one-off game at Headingley.
“There’s a lot to play for in this England side, there’s nothing worse than losing at home.”