HUW TURBERVILL: Jos Buttler lost his third game in four as the permanent white-ball captain after a 10-wicket defeat in the first ODI at the Kia Oval to India, hosts of the next 50-over World Cup in 2023
Moeen Ali is not panicking after England's bitterly disappointing defeat to India at the Kia Oval.
The 10-wicket loss left fans of the hosts and tourists glum at the early finish.
With Eoin Morgan gone, it points to a few teething troubles for new white-ball captain Jos Buttler and coach Matthew Mott.
It was the first time that Buttler, Ben Stokes, Joe Root, Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow had played in a one-day international since the 2019 World Cup final win against New Zealand at Lord's. They were blown away by the brilliance of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, however.
"It's nice to have these guys back and I'm sure it'll be fine," said Moeen. "The World Cup is still two years away. It definitely takes time to bed in. It will take a few defeats which is fine.
"In the past, we've won a lot of games, got to a World Cup and lost those crucial games. We have lost a few games at the moment but that's good for us going forward and closer to a World Cup we'll start winning. We want to win now but you don't want to win all games. Sometimes you learn more from losing games."
Prasidh Krishna celebrates dismissing Moeen, one of only four batters to reach double figures (Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
He might have his maths wrong about it being two years away, though – the next 50-over World Cup is in India in October in 2023.
"It's going to take some time. It's difficult, we have played a lot more shots [in past matches] and sometimes it was a case of 'do we keep going?' But here we were 26 for 5 and that has not happened a lot. Normally when we haven't played well we've been 70 for 5 and you can counter, but the ball was newer, they were bowling well. I thought they bowled really well on a difficult wicket and we managed to nick a few balls."
Morgan has earned the reputation as England's finest one-day leader, and they are big shoes for Butler to fill. Moeen says he will help him, however.
"As a senior player when it's your turn to do it you will. Jos is a brilliant leader. He's done it over the years when Eoin hasn't played but it's going to take a couple of games in all the formats.
"He has certainly got a lot of help. He does speak to the bowlers beforehand. He will tell me sometimes to go up to the bowler, or for Chris Jordan to do that. It works nicely. When Morgs didn't play he was always like that. It's not a problem having a keeper as captain.
"As a new captain no matter how cool you are you want to get off to a winning start, but he knows there's a long way to go and the team will be fine. There is no need to panic or change. We just need to step up as senior players in the team."
Moeen is confident Buttler will come good as England skipper (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Morgan has been at these matches, working for Sky. Moeen was asked if he'd kept his distance. "Yes. He's obviously doing his own thing. Guys have said hello and stuff. Eoin is like that when you played with him, you didn't get too close to him but spoke to him when you needed to."
Moeen says Mott has settled in well. "He's a lot like Trevor Bayliss, but he has his own ways. He's very relaxed and he's good. It doesn't look like it has affected him in any way.
"The dressing room almost runs itself most of the time so the boys are good. We know it can happen the way we play anyway. It's just one of those days when you draw the line"
These white-ball matches are coming thick and fast making this mid-summer period look like a quagmire. There was the 3-0 50-over win in the Netherlands, the 2-1 defeat to India in the T20s, and this match was the first of six more ODIs – two more against the Indians, three against South Africa. Tom Harrison could never be accused of having too much of a good thing.
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