"England are a one-dimensional batting unit and don't seem to have a plan B or C. If they do have alternative plans, they do not execute them very well. Twenty times out of 21, pitches in one-day cricket are conducive to big scores and England look invincible on those surfaces. But when they get a pitch that is not absolutely perfect, when the ball just sticks a little in the surface and does not quite come on to the bat, they cannot handle it. Most of them are not capable of adapting or changing their way of batting," Boycott wrote in his column for The Telegraph. 

However, Boycott was full of praise for the ever-so-consistent Joe Root, who scored a gritty half-century in the run-chase against Sri Lanka and has been prolific across all formats for England. Boycott was also critical of James Vince's inability to convert his starts.