Hussain critical of England's 'balance' after series defeat
England have not been at their best on and off the field during a disappointing T20I series against Bangladesh, according to former England skipper Nasser Hussain.
Bangladesh all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz delivered with bat and ball as Bangladesh stunned world champions England by four wickets in a second successive upset to clinch the three-match Twenty20 series with a game to spare in Mirpur on Sunday.
Chasing 118 to win, the hosts got off to a disappointing start when they lost openers Litton Das and Rony Talukdar for single-digit scores, before Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mehidy stitched together a 41-run partnership to get them back on track.
Ben Duckett top-scored for the visitors with a run-a-ball 28 but could not push on and was given little support as Mehidy (4-12) ripped through the middle order on a turning pitch.
"It was a different game of T20, credit to Bangladesh for out-playing us. No batter ever wants to get out but a tough wicket to start your innings on, we needed someone to stick with Ben Duckett," England captain Jos Buttler said after the defeat.
In both of the T20I matches so far, England failed to make a big score when batting first, and Hussain said following the second match that England should have added an extra batter to their squad after Will Jacks was forced to withdraw due to injury.
Hussain felt this was a poor decision by England, saying during a discussion with Sky Sports: "The selectors have a difficult juggling act. They've got one of the great series coming up in the Ashes. So, they are trying to rest their Test match players.
"They've got white-ball players playing Test match cricket. They've got lads that are injured. They've got the county season starting soon.
"But we've got 18 counties, if we can't put an extra batter or two on the ground in Bangladesh, if it means flying (Ollie) Pope or (Zak) Crawley, who I think will be a good white-ball cricketer, I don't think it's good enough to say we are one batter short.
"We are the England cricket team, it's an important tour. We saw what it meant to Bangladesh, and we have to treat it with the same respect. They didn't have the right balance of squad."
Pope, who has returned to England after touring New Zealand with the red-ball side, was on punditry duties for the second T20I and said he would have "absolutely" answered the call from Buttler if it had come.
Hussain said he understood the thinking behind the decision, adding: "I can guess there are a few England cricketers who play for counties that would like to be playing out there. The players that will be there for the next World Cup get the extra responsibility, so I get a little bit of the thinking.
"Curran, Woakes, Jordan, Ahmed got a bat on difficult conditions on a difficult pitch."