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.
England seem to have already done what was in their control. They have tried all 15 players in the original squad, tried to play with no care in the world, and even left out their vice-captain for three out of five games. Nothing has worked.
Form guide: India on a winning streak
India WWWWW (last five ODIs, most recent first)
England LLLWL
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: Kohli vs England
- Only twice a defending World Cup champion has failed to reach the knockouts: Australia in 1992 and Sri Lanka in 1999.
- 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.
Quotes
“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