'They were just missing another batsman...' - Former cricketer slams England after losing must-win game against Afghanistan

Former English cricketer Monty Panesar criticized England's batting line-up after losing against Afghanistan in a must-win game of the Champions Trophy 2025. It was because of a lack of batters that England failed to chase the given target. Afghanistan was better in all the departments of the game. It was quite evident from England's batting that they lost some early wickets and were dependent on Joe Root. 

"They had batsmen who could bat for longer periods and now they relied just on (Joe) Root. They could have possibly had another batsman there, like maybe Harry Brook, thinking right; these are the two batsmen who are going to bat longer periods while the others can attack a bit more. They were just missing another batsman. Root came into the team because he can anchor the innings but then yesterday, all Root needed was a batsman to bat with him and they probably would have beaten Afghanistan," said Monty Panesar. 

With this loss, England are out of the tournament. Now, Afghanistan will play against Australia, and South Africa will play against England to qualify for the semi-finals. Three teams are running for two spots, making the tournament interesting. 

That didn't help on pitches in Pakistan: Monty Panesar

Monty Panesar also spoke about the bowling lineup and said that they didn't have a proper second spinner after Adil Rashid in the tournament. Depending on only one batter and bowler cost them the entire tournament. England's batting was impressive in the first game, but their bowling was a problem throughout. 

"They didn’t prepare a proper second spinner to support Adil Rashid and they just went with fast bowlers. They thought having four or five 90-plus-mile fast bowlers would help them win games, but that didn’t help on pitches in Pakistan," said Monty Panesar.