Dharamshala: Erstwhile England skipper Michael Vaughan feels that not all England players have fully adapted to the existing team culture and feels the backroom staff is "made up of cheerleaders".
Vaughan advised that Ben Stokes-led side must honestly review their 1-4 defeat in India by taking a leaf out of Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola's book to breed an environment of ruthlessness.
India won the bilateral Test series against England on Saturday, securing a victory in the fifth and final game of the series by an innings and 64 runs powered by skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill's centuries and extraordinary display of bowlers', who dished out a clinical performance to help their team outplay the opponents and emerge triumphant.
"After a humbling series defeat in India, I strongly believe that a dose of honesty is the most important thing for this England team right now. I do worry it's a backroom team made up of cheerleaders. That's based on what I hear in public, and maybe it's different in the changing room, but players need challenging and questioning at times," Vaughan wrote in his column for Daily Telegraph.
"I don't believe they need to rip everything up. They are better at playing this way than they would be otherwise. I respect what they are trying to do, and get up early every day to watch them because they have me on the edge of my seat and I know something is going to happen. The great frustration is that they have the talent to be competitive all over the world but they have blown two big series and in this case it was because their batting failed miserably," Vaughan, who led the Test team from 2003-08, added.
The 49-year-old accused the team management of being too soft on players. He believes that having a sense of positivity, fun and laughter in the camp may not always bring the desired results.
"I can be a bit of an old cynic, and I worry that they are speaking a language that not all of them truly believe, which is dangerous. Certain players will believe it, but not everyone. We can't all think the same," Vaughan said.
Vaughan said those running the team must not shy away from taking tough calls and for that, they don't need to look beyond Guardiola.
"The team message is never to doubt anything, never admit they were wrong or they could have done things differently. Everything is very cosy. Everyone is mates: players, coaches, backroom staff. That does not breed an environment of ruthlessness."
"I know I bang on about how brilliant Pep Guardiola is, but you don't hear about him being mates with Manchester City players. He's their boss and he doesn't always do what his players want him to. He makes ruthless decisions about selection and training regimes."
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