Big picture: Can England return to winning ways?
India versus England was among the most anticipated matches of the 2023 ODI World Cup. After all, it is the pre-tournament favourites (and the hosts) taking on the defending champions. But no one had imagined that England would be hanging by the thinnest of threads by the time this game would arrive.
With just one win from five games, England are lurking near the bottom of the points table. If they are to make it to the knockouts from here, every atom in this universe needs to work for them – there are that many permutations they need to go in their favour.
Form guide: India on a winning streak
India WWWWW (last five ODIs, most recent first)
England LLLLL
In the spotlight: Mohammed Siraj and Jos Buttler
Team news: India likely to be unchanged
India have the option of bringing in R Ashwin and playing three spinners. But that would leave them with just two seamers. So expect them to play an unchanged XI.
India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Suryakumar Yadav, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Kuldeep Yadav, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
With no left-hand batter in India’s top six, there’s minimal value in Moeen Ali’s offspin. So he is likely to sit out yet again, with Harry Brook replacing him. England could also bring in Gus Atkinson for Mark Wood.
England (probable): 1 Jonny Bairstow, 2 Dawid Malan, 3 Joe Root, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Jos Buttler (capt, wk), 6 Harry Brook, 7 Liam Livingstone, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 David Willey, 10 Gus Atkinson, 11 Adil Rashid
Pitch and conditions: A red-soil surface
The temperature in the afternoon will be around 31°C but should drop by five degrees in the evening. There’s no forecast for rain.
Stats and trivia: Will Kohli equal Tendulkar’s record?
- Only twice a defending World Cup champion has failed to reach the knockouts: Australia in 1992 and Sri Lanka in 1999.
- Kohli (48) is one short of equalling Sachin Tendulkar’s record of most ODI hundreds.
- Shreyas Iyer is 69 away from 2000 ODI runs. If he gets there on Sunday, he will be the joint second-fastest Indian to the mark.
- If Buttler scores 82 runs on Sunday, he will become the joint second-fastest Englishman to 5000 ODI runs. Overall, only six wicketkeeper-batters have 5000 or more runs in ODIs.
- England are the only team against whom Kohli has played more than one ODI and averages less than 50 (43.22).
- Shami has dismissed Buttler five times in 60 balls, more than any other bowler in ODIs.
- Jonny Bairstow averages 13.25 against Ravindra Jadeja in ODIs, with four dismissals in six innings.
Quotes
“Whoever has got the chance, they have contributed. I know that big scores have not been scored, hundreds have not been scored apart from Virat and Rohit. But that is the challenge for the other guys. Shubman has scored a fifty, Shreyas has scored a fifty, I have been batting well. When Jadeja got the chance in the last match, he also finished the match. So, every player has a different role. And they are playing their role and responsibility well. The team is winning, so we are not really worried. Whenever anyone gets a chance, I’m sure they’ll put their hands up.”
KL Rahul isn’t worried about the lack of hundreds from the middle order
“We were desperate to come here and try and win back-to-back 50 over competitions. We’re still very much focused on all formats of the game.”
England assistant coach Marcus Trescothick plays down the idea that England have lost interest in ODIs
Hemant Brar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
