LONDON, Nov 15: The British press predicted on Saturday that England captain Kevin Pietersen faced a daunting task to lift his demoralised side after their crushing One-day International defeat to India.

England were subjected to one of their heaviest ever ODI defeats on Friday, as India cruised to victory by 158 runs in the first game of a seven-match series in Rajkot. Headlining its coverage “Perfect Humiliation”, the Daily Mail said: “Kevin Pietersen could do no wrong when he led England to victory in his first five matches as official captain.

“But he has been given a painful reminder of how tough life can be in the highest office after a chastening few weeks.”

The Sun said Pietersen’s winter was “lurching towards crisis proportions”.

The tabloid said England had been “blasted by a man wearing a corset,” referring to Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh, who tore England apart with a not-out 138 runs despite wearing protection for a bad back.

The Times accused England of being “badly under-prepared” for the India tour and said the tight schedule allowed little time for in-depth practice sessions to change tactics and put things right.

The paper said the England players appeared to be suffering a lingering depression from their defeat in the million-dollar-a-man Stanford match earlier this month.

“The Stanford legacy is scrambled minds,” it concluded, warning that Pietersen’s men had to act quickly “to restate their commitment on the field”.—AFP