IPL 2026: Liam Livingstone Blasts England Cricket Team Management And Brendon McCullum, Praises Virat Kohli’s RCB

Discarded England all-rounder Liam Livingstone has launched a scathing attack against England management, having last donned the national jersey only 12 months ago. The spin-bowling all-rounder indicated that his former IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) had treated him better than his own national team.

Liam Livingstone was released by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru ahead of IPL 2026

The 32-year-old was axed out of England team after consistently performing poorly early last year as they lost 10 out of 11 matches during both the tour of India and Champions Trophy 2025. Livingstone explained that he was merely told over phone call about being dropped as coach Brendon McCullum, outgoing selector Luke Wright and captain Harry Brook haven’t spoken to him ever since. He told ESPN Cricinfo:

“I don’t think it [the call] would have reached a minute. I asked why; they said they wanted to try someone else. That was off Baz. Wrighty [outgoing selector Luke Wright] didn’t reach out, and Brooky [captain Harry Brook] sent me a text. That probably sums that group up as a collective. Keysy said nothing – [he] said I’ll speak to you in the summer. I actually rang him one day, and he said he was busy at a Test camp at Loughborough. And then I didn’t hear off him until the end of September. That was a bit of an eye-opening experience about the group and the regime: if you’re in, you’re in, and if you’re not in, no-one cares about you.”

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By contrast, the hard-hitting right-hander said RCB Director of Cricket Mo Bobat and Andy Flower had candidly told their decision to release him from RCB squad. He stated:

“It showed me that there’s two people doing it the right way.”

Liam Livingstone to ply his trade for the SunRisers Hyderabad in IPL 2026

Having been released by the Royal Challengers, Livingstone bagged a deal of ₹13 crore from the SunRisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2026 auction. The Englishman had managed only 112 runs in 10 matches in IPL 2025 for RCB and took a couple of scalps.

But he will look to deliver a better performance this time around.

Also Read: IPL 2026: Is MS Dhoni Changing His Iconic No. 7 Jersey? Viral Facebook Post Sparks Buzz Among CSK Fans