England head coach Brendon McCullum feels they have to be smarter with their comments after the 4-1 series loss against India. The hosts won the fifth Test match by an innings and 64 runs at Dharamsala as they dominated throughout the series.

Meanwhile, earlier in the series, England opener Ben Duckett commented that they deserve credit for the way Yashasvi Jaiswal is batting in the series. Jaiswal ended the series as the highest run-getter with 712 runs at an average of 89, including two double centuries.

Duckett was heavily criticised by a lot of pundits, including former England skipper Nasser Hussain, for his overconfident comments.

“We do have belief within our group. It has taken a bit of a hit over the last couple of weeks. We have to be smarter with those comments. It is fine to inwardly believe what you can achieve but just be a bit smarter around how we say things sometimes,” said McCullum while speaking to the Telegraph.

McCullum added that his players are not yet finished articles. The former New Zealand captain said the players are confident but not arrogant.

“But it is people growing up in the environment right. They are not the finished articles yet and surely they shouldn’t be hung for making a positive comment in the media that might be construed as arrogance. It is not arrogance, just confidence in the group,” McCullum added.

Meanwhile, England’s middle order could not deliver the goods for the visitors as they failed to get the job done. Jonny Bairstow didn’t have a great series as he could only manage 238 runs in five Test matches at a paltry average of 23.80.

On the other hand, England captain Ben Stokes failed to lead from the front as he scored 199 runs in five Test matches at an average of 19.90.