NEW DELHI: England's red-ball coach, Brendon McCullum, believes that there is still an opportunity for the team to revive their Cricket World Cup campaign. He encourages the defending champions to stay true to their style of play despite a setback, which came in the form of a 69-run defeat against Afghanistan.
This loss to Afghanistan marked England's second defeat in the tournament, with their first being a nine-wicket loss to New Zealand in their opening game earlier this month.
"They will get there. It is still early days and this tournament is a slow burn, so there is plenty of time and matches for them to catch up," McCullum told the Mirror in an interview published on Wednesday.
"It is a World Cup, so there is going to be the odd upset and that is what you want in a tournament like this."
England, holders of both the 50-overs title and the Twenty20 World Cup, are fifth in the standings with one win from three games.
"Of course the boys would have liked to be 3 and 0, but sport doesn't work like that and sometimes you have to cope with challenges and then show how good you are," McCullum said.
"One thing is for sure, there are good reasons why England have won two World Cups recently. It is the quality of the players and the manner with which they play the game that makes them a world class side.
"They just need to stay true to their method and their style which has brought them so much success and not get shaken by the odd bad day at the office."
England take on South Africa in Mumbai on Saturday.
(With Reuters inputs)
