Brendon McCullum lauded England for answering their critics with an "immensely satisfying" T20 series sweep of world champions India.

England rounded off a 4-0 rout with a 56-run victory in Southampton on Saturday, while they subsequently usurped the Men In Blue at the summit of the T20 rankings.

It was a brilliant response from McCullum's side, who have come under intense scrutiny following an unsettling period, which included Ben Stokes' sudden retirement as Test captain.

There have also been plenty of question marks over their discipline, after Stokes and Gus Atkinson broke curfew with their visit to a London nightclub during their Test series against New Zealand.

McCullum praised his players' ability to deliver the goods whilst under the spotlight, and is now looking to build after securing the number one T20 ranking.

"Coming into the series, things have been a bit noisy around English cricket, if we're being honest," he told Sky Sports.

Brook and Buttler at their brutal best!
A 4-0 win secured in Southampton!
Full 5th IT20 highlightspic.twitter.com/3IOFnmOnEh

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 12, 2026

"To be able to put that aside and focus on the task at hand – competing against a very good Indian side who have been number one in the world for more than 1,600 days – and walk away 4-0 having scaled the summit, albeit by a small margin, is incredibly satisfying.

"The manner in which we did it – I thought we were incredibly clever with how we operated. Our tactics were bang on, our implementation was spot on, the leadership shown by Harry Brook and a number of other senior players was excellent.

"We were able to adapt to conditions and buy into what we were trying to achieve. It's immensely satisfying. We'll make sure we enjoy it.

"I've always been someone who tries to deal in the here and now. We put the Test series to one side and started focusing on getting the very best out of the team in this T20 series. We're very satisfied with what we've been able to achieve.

"We won't stop. We'll keep pushing ourselves to be a better team, able to sustain the level of performance we had throughout the series. But it's nice to be able to take a breath with these lads and celebrate what's been an incredible series."