“That’s life,” McCullum told Sky Sports after England’s nine-wicket defeat. “We obviously took the opportunity to win the series. We did good things all the way and in the end we are disappointed but also very complimentary about how Pakistan played. But we know within ourselves that we had the opportunity to do better than that and we’re a little disappointed about that.

“Thanks to Pakistan, the way those two spinners bowled was fantastic,” said McCullum, after Noman and Sajid combined to beat England for 112 in their second innings in Rawalpindi.

“I thought they varied the pace beautifully. Noman on one side, slowing down the pace most of the time with the occasional fast one, and Sajid turning that around and picking up the pace with the occasional slow one. I thought great partner bowling. And unfortunately our boys couldn’t keep up the pressure.”

Asked if he was comfortable with the extreme measures Pakistan had taken to bring their spinners into the series, including the seemingly unprecedented reuse of the first Test pitch in Multan and raking of the Rawalpindi surface to aggravate supply, replied McCullum said he welcomed the initiative they had shown.

“I like it to be honest,” he said. “They were brave enough to make decisions about their personnel, and they were brave enough to make decisions about the surface they wanted to play on.

“When teams come to England we ideally play on surfaces we are more used to, which allows our strengths to really flourish and perhaps also overcome some of the weaknesses that every team naturally has.

“I’m a bit surprised that Pakistan has lasted so long. Because when you go to Sri Lanka, India or Bangladesh, the ball is always going to turn over. What we had here a few years ago, or in that country, The first Test match, where It was quite flat was another challenge. It will be interesting to see in the coming years if they continue to offer this type of service, but from our point of view there are certainly no excuses our chances and we came second.”

Despite remaining magnanimous, McCullum acknowledged that the series defeat would increase scrutiny on his team. Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley had remarkably few answers in the more extreme conditions, while Brook top-scored 26 in his final four innings of the tour, having made four centuries and fifty in his previous six in the country.

“It’s pretty much the same batting group that came here two years ago and was excellent in these conditions, and it’s the same batting group that got 800 in the first Test match,” McCullum said. “As circumstances changed, we faced different challenges and we couldn’t quite adapt to those challenges. And that’s a missed opportunity.”

“I have no doubt, and the skipper has no doubt, that our batting group that we have had together for almost 18 months now is the best we have,” he added. “We’re very confident, we just have to make sure we continue to give guys the opportunity to develop and continue to become the players they want to become and take advantage of that.”

The focus will also fall on England’s spinners, particularly Shoaib Bashir and Jack Leach, whose direct counterparts Sajid and Noman exploited the conditions with considerably more success in the last two Tests. Bashir, whose selection for the tour of India was based on his natural attributes, rather than any proven record in first-class cricket, has now bowled more overs than any other player in 2024, but his series run of nine wickets stands at 49.66. pales in comparison to Sajid’s 19 at 9.10pm.

“(Sajid and Noman) were brilliant in the way they bowled together, and they challenged in different ways with the steps they used,” McCullum said. “Could we have done better? Yes, of course, right? Every time you lose a Test or lose a series, you have to have a period of reflection. And we will do that, and say, okay, the next time we If we get similar circumstances, how will we react? What should we do? Should we adjust our tactics more?

“You always try to improve, but you have to be very careful not to look for perfection because that doesn’t exist in an inconsistent game. The game we play will have periods when that is not the case. go as you wish, but you must still remain steadfast.

“We will face spinning conditions at some point in the future, and we hope that some of the lessons, good and bad, that we have had during this series will give us a little more, a little more foundation. to be successful.”