McCullum lost his Test job earlier this month after a home defeat to New Zealand, but has bounced back with England able to achieve a superb 4-0 T20 series victory over world champions India which was followed by a precious triumph in the 50-over format.
Ben Duckett’s masterful 141 proved the bedrock of a record-breaking total of 387 for three, a new best ever List A score at Lord’s with 91 for new ODI opener Jacob Bethell along with late contributions from Joe Root, who made 74 not out, and Jos Buttler’s sparkling 13-ball innings of 41 crucial.
It earned England a handsome halfway advantage of this winner-takes-all contest, but Rohit Sharma put retirement rumours to bed with an equally stunning 138 to become the first India player to score an ODI hundred at this historic venue.
However, Brook’s decision to turn to Bethell’s part-time spin proved inspired with the Barbados-born youngster able to bowl Sharma on a day where tributes were paid to his old mentor Sir Garfield Sobers, who died on Friday.
Sam Curran then struck twice in the 44th over before Virat Kohli departed for 74 to help restrict India to 360 for seven, but Brook placed the credit for Bethell’s unexpected spell of one for 49 to the much-maligned McCullum, who guided England to only a second ODI series win over India since 2012.
“That was a tough little period, they were obviously getting ahead of the game and playing really well. I decided to go off for an over and have a quick chat with Baz to gather his thoughts,” Brook said.
“Again, it comes back to the communication which has been outstanding throughout the T20s, throughout the ODIs.
Jacob Bethell things…
91 with the bat.7-49-1 with the ball.Electric as always in the field.
Our starboy ⭐️
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 19, 2026
“They have a slightly different view from up there, with the TVs and analytic work and going up there to have a quick chat to see what we could do. He said, ‘have a go with Beth, a slightly different spinner to what we’ve got with him driving it into the pitch,’ and thankfully it came off.
“Yeah, extremely pleased with the way we have performed throughout the whole series, going 1-0 down and the fight and camaraderie and belief to win 2-1 in the end, like we did in Sri Lanka, I think it’s a credit to the team, the coaches and an outstanding performance.”
With England on the hunt for a new Test head coach and captain after the departures of McCullum and Ben Stokes respectively, Brook did his chances no harm with six wins across seven completed white-ball matches.
Yet, Brook acknowledged it would be “tough” to juggle all formats ahead of a 2027 where a home Ashes series is followed by an ODI World Cup in South Africa.
Brook added: “That’s not my decision. Whoever is the new coach will have that decision to make. It would be tough to do it, but I’m not saying it is impossible. If I get asked, we’ll see where it takes us.”
India captain Shubman Gill felt the late hitting of Buttler proved decisive, especially without the injured Jasprit Bumrah before he side-stepped questions about Sharma, who batted majestically after 24 hours of rumours it could be his final innings.
On Sharma, Gill said: “I mean he has not told us anything. I think it is all out in the media, but there has not been any discussions internally.
“Our bowling is a little inexperienced and we were put under the pump in this match and we didn’t respond.”
