India, Jan. 9 -- Former England opening batter Sir Geoffrey Boycott minced no words as he made a scathing assessment of captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum following the side's 1-4 defeat at the hands of Australia in the 2025-26 Ashes series. The visitors lost the fifth and final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday by five wickets, leading to the Steve Smith-led Australia wrapping up a comfortable 4-1 series victory on home soil.

Ever since Stokes and McCullum took over the reins of the Test side in 2022, England have failed to win a single series against India or Australia, and most of their wins have come against New Zealand, Pakistan and the West Indies.

England were expected to pose a challenge in front of A...