Matthew Mott admits Jos Buttler has had a “baptism of fire” as England’s white-ball captain, as South Africa stand by to keep the pressure on.
It is little more than a fortnight since the retirement of World Cup-winning skipper Eoin Morgan saw Buttler promoted to the top job and faced with a busy first month in the role.
His side are halfway through a packed July schedule of 12 games in 24 days and were left empty handed by India, who took 2-1 series wins in the Twenty20 and one-day contests.
Defeat in the 50-over format was a rarity for a team who had learned to dominate in home conditions under Morgan, with just two other losses since 2015, but India showed why they are already favourites to succeed England as world champions in their own conditions next year.