Ex-India Cricketer identified as England's next coach after Ashes 2025-26 debacle

England’s performance in test cricket under Brendon McCullum’s captaincy has not been good.

England suffered yet another Ashes series loss to Australia. This time, England are 0-3 down in the five-Test Ashes 2025-26 series in Australia.

England came into this Test series with high hopes, riding on the ‘Bazball’ wave. However, they lost the first two Tests in Perth and Brisbane by 8 wickets and were soundly beaten by Australia in the Adelaide Test by 82 runs.

England have been humiliated all around the world, but their head coach, Brendon McCullum, seemed unconcerned about the criticism. McCullum, who always does things his own way, is not willing to sacrifice his strategies just for the sake of results.

Following this humiliating loss, McCullum’s reign as England coach is under intense scrutiny, and the ECB board may be discussing his future.

Meanwhile, former England spinner Monty Panesar believes that if England wants to win against Australia, they should appoint former Indian coach Ravi Shastri as their head coach.

Monty Panesar wants Ravi Shastri to take Brendon McCullum’s place

Former English spinner Monty Panesar has proposed a replacement for England’s head coach, Brendon McCullum, in the midst of a crisis involving Ben Stokes and McCullum, who they believe can alter England’s destiny against Australia.

Since then, England’s performance has stagnated. They have lost 16 of their next 33 games after failing to win any of their prestigious five-match series against Australia or India. They are currently behind 0-3 with two games left in the Ashes.

In an interview with journalist Ravi Bisht on his YouTube channel, Panesar stated that he believes Shastri would be the best person to coach England since he knows what it takes to defeat Australia at home.

He said, “You have to think: who exactly knows how to beat Australia? How do you take advantage of Australia’s weaknesses, mentally, physically, and tactically? I think Ravi Shastri should become England’s next head coach.”

Under Ravi Shastri’s coaching, India achieved the top rank in the ICC Test rankings, making him undoubtedly one of the most successful rest coaches in the world.

He also ruled during the heyday of Indian cricket. In the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India defeated Australia twice on Australian territory under Shastri. The first was India’s first-ever series win in Australia 2018-19.

They accomplished the same feat in 2020–21, overcoming the notorious “36 all out” in the Adelaide pink-ball Test while leading an injured squad.

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