“They relied just on Joe Root” - Former England cricketer’s blunt take after AFG vs ENG 2025 Champions Trophy match

Former England cricketer Monty Panesar has reacted to Afghanistan beating England by eight runs in the 2025 Champions Trophy on Wednesday, February 26. As a result, England have now been eliminated from the tournament with two back-to-back defeats.

In an interview with The Indian Express, Monty Panesar spoke about how England simply relied on Joe Root in the chase against Afghanistan during their 2025 Champions Trophy fixture. He said that they missed a batter who could bat through and alongside Root.

Monty Panesar explained:

"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 period 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."

Panesar went on to criticize England's batting approach in their 2025 Champions Trophy game against Afghanistan, saying that the batters were attacking and did not try to spend time at the crease.

"They were missing one batter to support Root because all the other batsmen are quite attacking. Eoin Morgan’s team just had batters who could bat time. I think here, they have batters who have impact but they don’t look to bat time," he said.

The former cricketer also stated that England need to go back to the traditional style of batting and bat for longer periods with an aim to set the game up rather than just looking to create impact. He added:

"That style of old, let’s say traditional England style of batting where you just bat slightly longer, you set the game up. Afghanistan did it perfectly. You look at Australia, they obviously, do it really well. They’ve got Steve Smith there. So, it’s just about actually setting the innings up rather than going in and thinking, right, let’s keep creating impact.

"In ODIs, it’s a slightly longer format of the game. So, if we have wickets in hand by 35 overs, let’s say seven or six wickets in hand by 35 overs, then you can accelerate. Afghanistan did that. They got to the 40th over. They were, like in a really good position and they accelerated."

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Monty Panesar criticizes England's bowling selection for 2025 Champions Trophy

In the same interview, Monty Panesar reflected on what went wrong for England at the 2025 Champions Trophy after their early exit. He said that England did not have a proper second spinner alongside Adil Rashid.

Panesar said that playing more fast bowlers did not help them in Pakistan conditions, adding:

"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 miles fast bowlers would help them win games, but that didn’t help on pitches in Pakistan."

England will play their final 2025 Champions Trophy clash against South Africa in Karachi on Saturday, March 1.