Expectations
England tasted glory in 2019 by winning their maiden 50-over World Cup. Four years later, can they defend the title and find a place in cricket’s folklore as one of the greatest limited-overs sides? On paper, England have selected a formidable squad for the World Cup to be held in India. The Jos Buttler-led set-up has an enviable batting line-up and a battery of all-rounders. Yet, there are a few question marks hanging over the side, which could act as a hurdle in their quest to hoist the 50-over World Cup trophy once again.
Where they finished last time
Champions. England, however, had to navigate through a tricky phase in the league stage. Early on in the tournament, they lost to Pakistan in a high-scoring game. The home side then resurrected their fortunes by defeating Bangladesh, Afghanistan and West Indies. Just when it seemed as if England’s campaign was back on track, they suffered a shock defeat against Sri Lanka. England’s woes didn’t end there as they then went down to arch-rivals Australia at Lord’s.
At that juncture, it looked like one of the favourites to win the World Cup would make an early exit. But England tapped deep into the reservoirs of their experience and mental strength to overcome India, New Zealand and, subsequently, Australia in the semi-final. The summit clash against New Zealand turned out to be a game for the ages. Eventually, England won by the barest of margins in the Super Over – the number of boundaries hit.
Strengths and weaknesses
Firepower in the batting department: In the last eight years, England’s successful template has been built on picking a long batting line-up. Such is England’s batting depth that the likes of Sam Hain and Ben Duckett had little or no chance of securing a berth in the squad for the World Cup. Not even Jason Roy, the 2019 World Cup hero, could make the cut.
Opposition teams might shudder at the thought of Liam Livingstone coming out to bat at No. 7. Recently, England had found themselves in all kinds of trouble at 55 for 5 in helpful conditions against New Zealand. Livingstone didn’t just prop up the innings but took the game away from New Zealand with a 78-ball 95.
Banking on all-round strength: England have an amalgam of spin-bowling and pace-bowling all-rounders – Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, David Willey and Sam Curran. Joe Root too can chip with a few overs. Ben Stokes, though, is set to play purely as a batter as he has been battling a knee problem. Stokes has a modest record with the ball in ODIs but having a top-five batter bowl a few overs of seam would have added even more heft to the England line-up.
Ground fielding: England have followed the old maxim of every run counts, as their ground fielding has been top-notch over a period of time. Generally, you end up seeing England save enough runs on the field. In contrast to the Test team, England’s catching too has been pretty good.
Not playing enough: With the Covid-19 pandemic wreaking havoc across the globe, numerous bilateral rubbers across formats were put on the backburner. When many of those rubbers were rescheduled, England had to juggle between playing different formats at the same time. So, quite a few of the senior players couldn’t partake in some of the bilateral ODIs. One of them was the fulcrum of the batting unit, Root.
Root, England’s No. 3, did make a comeback for the ODIs against New Zealand but couldn’t find any rhythm to his batting. Simply put, it takes time to adjust to the tempo of playing the 50-over format.
A missing piece or two in the bowling jigsaw: Among the spinners, Adil Rashid is going to be the key component. Just that Rashid is now 35 and perhaps coming to the fag end of his career. It is true that Livingstone can bowl both off-spin and leg-spin, but opposition teams would likely target his and Moeen’s brand of off-spin.
Meanwhile, England’s pace bowling arsenal will be led by Mark Wood. The Durham fast bowler is at the peak of his prowess. He did summon up quick spells, hit-the-deck skills and a wee bit of swing in the Ashes 2023. However, all those spells in the Ashes seemed to have taken their toll on his body as Wood didn’t play any of the ODIs against New Zealand. With Jofra Archer being picked only as a travelling reserve, England would need their talisman to be fit and firing.
Reece Topley, who has been hampered by numerous injuries in the past, could turn out to be Wood’s main partner-in-crime. He generates swings and that is blended with the left-arm angle. The 6’7″ tall bowler also extracts bounce and can land the yorkers in the slog. Moreover, he has a variation up his sleeve for the slog overs – Overspin.
Star turn
England have a collection of game-changers. But if you have to pick just one, then it would be a close call between the trio of Wood, Stokes and Buttler. Among the lot, Stokes would probably edge out the other two. Be it the 2019 World Cup, the T20 World Cup 2022 or Ashes contests, Stokes has been England’s go-to man at crucial moments. Perhaps we have to coin a new phrase for Stokes – Cometh the hour, cometh the big stage, cometh the man. Stokes, who is returning from ODI retirement, would be keen to lay down the marker in his final 50-over World Cup.
New kid on the block
Harry Brook. The Yorkshire-born cricketer sneaked into the squad at the eleventh hour, displacing Roy. Brook, who is basically a back-foot player, can play a range of shots. His exemplary wrist-work can befuddle captains and bowling attacks. He did have a poor run in the IPL 2023, where it felt as if he was trying to premeditate way too much. The think-tank would believe that in Brook, they have a reserve batter who can turn out to be a game-breaker when he gets an opportunity.
Where they should finish
Semifinalists. A couple of missing nuts and bolts might stop them from winning the title for a second time.
Match schedule
Oct 5: Versus New Zealand, Ahmedabad
Oct 10: Versus Bangladesh, Dharamsala
Oct 15: Versus Afghanistan, Delhi
Oct 21: Versus South Africa, Mumbai
Oct 26: Versus Sri Lanka, Bengaluru
Oct 29: Versus India, Lucknow
Nov 4: Versus Australia, Ahmedabad
Nov 8: Versus Netherlands, Pune
Nov 11: Versus Pakistan, Kolkata
Full squad
Jos Buttler (c, wk), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes.
Likely first-choice XI
Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (c, wk), Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Reece Topley.